Michael Gove doesn't want to be PM: he wants meritocracy and freedom
"Michael Gove won't admit it, but tonight's EU debate is his first audition for the Tory leadership," wrote Asa Bennett in the Telegraph. Except he didn't because it wasn't.…
Margaret Thatcher
Labour Party Conference: “We are proud of our diversity record, which will be even better when all the straight, white, Christian and Jewish people are expelled”
Goodness, what a palaver! Our weekend guest, Dr. Giles Fontwater, late Dean of Cantwell College, Oxbridge, recently attended the Neo-Chartist-Stalinist-Stakhanovite Party Conference in Liverpool as an interested observer of the Body Politic. We were eager to hear his account. To…
Time to forgive Guy Fawkes?
"Guy Fawkes should be forgiven because he has become a ‘global brand’, says headmaster of Catholic plotter's old school." That's a summary of an inept piece in the Telegraph…
Tony Abbott on Europe's migrants: "All countries that say 'anyone who gets here can stay here' are now in peril"
Last night the Hon. Tony Abbott MP, former Prime Minister of Australia, delivered the second annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture at a Gala Dinner and Banquet to celebrate The Lady's…
Murmur in Manchester Cathedral: Corbyn counters Conservative Party Conference
The Bishop of Manchester is neither a member nor a supporter of the Labour Party. We know this because he tweeted it. He lauds the Guardian for its superior…
Chartres' Lambeth Lecture: the Church must be "vision-led and not problem-led"
While the Archbishop of Canterbury pored over the Blogosphere on his iPad (to which he is apparently rather attached), the Bishop of London psyched himself up for the latest…
Labour has become the party of terrorists, extremists and radical revolutionaries
"We now have a leader who is as extreme and as hard left as any leader we have ever had including Keir Hardie. We have got a leader who…
Clerics for Corbyn: Bishop of Willesden comes out for 'Alice in Wonderland' politics
Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden, has joined the Rev'd Giles Fraser and finally come out for Jeremy Corbyn. This is that same Jeremy Corbyn of whom Tony Blair says…
The cult of Comrade Corbyn
A cult is a small, unpopular religion. A religion is a large and fashionable cult. When the disesteemed and shunned become desirable and popular, there follows respect, if not…
"Thatcher Rest In Hell" – Durham Miners' Gala rejoice over Thatcher effigy in coffin
"The Durham Miners' Association has been shocked and saddened at the news last week of the death of three stalwarts of the socialist and labour movement," wrote the Friends…
"How can a Christian vote Tory?"
It has been the most frequent question posed over the past month or so – sometimes emailed or DM'd; most often tweeted, and frequently interrogated in the chat threads.…
Blukip: why doesn't the Right show a bit more love?
Can you imagine Norman Tebbit, Simon Heffer, Nigel Farage and Peter Hitchens indulging in a group hug? No? Too macho? Okay, let's feminise it. How about Margaret Thatcher, Ann…
Cameron: "As God's children, we are all one big family"
David Cameron did a lot of God yesterday. If you judge by the Daily Mail photo splash, it was mainly about Sikhs, gurdwaras and Vaisakhi. But he also addressed…
Nigeria unites in the war against Boko Haram
This is a guest post by Katie Harrison – Tearfund‘s Head of Communications. Katie tweets at @KatieHarrisonTF _______________________ Last year, I was working in Zambia, on a trip which involved long road…
If we can 'pardon' past convictions for gross indecency, why not heresy?
The Royal Pardon is usually reserved for those who, having once been convicted of a criminal act, are subsequently discovered to have been innocent of the offence and so…
#PastoralLetter (2): Visions, dreams and nebulous notions of detachment
Having responded to the Preface of the Pastoral Letter from the House of Bishops "to the people and parishes of the Church of England for the General Election 2015",…
Without Christian vision the future of politics looks bleak
A couple of days ago my NASUWT magazine dropped through the letterbox and, as always, it makes for pretty depressing reading. If the contents are to be believed, most…
Why do bishops flaunt their Socialism but shroud their Conservatism?
When the Archbishop of York was giving media interviews recently to promote his book On Rock or Sand?, he made clear that "the theology of where I am coming…
"Tory fury" over Church of England letter is a confected Tory tantrum
Each day when Parliament is sitting, the Duty Bishop in the House of Lords prays that the House should “Lay aside all private interests, prejudices and partial affections”, so…
The Times takes another swipe at the Archbishop of Canterbury
Reasoned criticism of the Church of England is always welcome: as a human institution it boasts of no perfection; as a provisional branch of the Catholic Church it makes…