Happy Brexit Year: control the language, control the argument
"An ennui hangs over British politics and the prime minister is depending on it", wrote Matthew Parris in the Times a few days ago. "Like a thin, wearisome fog it…
Oligarchy
Church of England’s Brexit prayers – what exactly do they mean?
A few months ago the Archbishop of York issued a Brexit prayer, or, rather, 'A Prayer for Parliament in Time of Brexit Trouble'. It was a fairly benign effort which was very well received in the Church of England, not…
Welby wants a Christian Brexit, led by “someone that is trusted”
Justin Welby has been in Africa, but no one really cared much about that. He went to inaugurate the new autonomous Anglican province of Sudan and to highlight the plight…
Tory MP hates social media: “It gives a voice to people who don’t deserve one”
Gary Streeter is the Conservative MP for South West Devon. He is a committed Christian who helped found the Conservative Christian Fellowship. He now chairs the cross-party group Christians in…
A female Bishop of London “to make a statement”?
The Rt Rev'd Dr Richard Chartres retires as Bishop of London in February (he will be greatly missed - 'Peer Now!'), and according to the Times (..hold loosely..): Bishop Chartres…
Cameron: Brexit could lead to World War III
Today is Europe Day, marking the anniversary on 9th May 1950 of the Schuman Declaration which proposed the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). By pooling…
Donald Trump: the triumph of political incorrectness over incorrect politicalness
Unless the GOP does something silly – like steal the nomination in a contested convention by engineering a last-minute coup – it looks as though Donald Trump will be…
EU democracy is unthinkable when citizens hold all the wrong opinions
In the EU Referendum fray, amidst claim and counter-claim, allegations of half-truths, dodgy dossiers, falsehoods and malicious obfuscation, a central plank of the Government's 'Project Fear' is that we…
Vatican says UK is "better in than out" of the EU
"The Vatican wants Britain to stay in the European Union, the Pope's foreign secretary has declared." So writes the Telegraph, noting that Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with…
Bishop of Chelmsford repudiates episcopal "talent pool"
It was a glorious sermon, with an audacious, if not subversive (which some may call prophetic) intervention on the Church of England's emerging "talent pool" approach to recognising bishops.…
Peter Mandelson plots to subvert democracy: the arrogance of the political elite
When the Italian social scientist Vilfredo Pareto observed the political revolutions and machinations by which presidents are overthrown and regimes fall and rise, he coined a phrase which has…
Jeremy Corbyn's path to power is more plausible than people think
Usually somewhere between three and 30 people avail themselves of the #Amen prayer facility at the bottom of this blog's Home Page. Since it was installed, the most believers…
Church of England to spend £2m on "new approach" to leadership
Politicians are out of touch. We know that, because we constantly hear about the 'Westminster bubble' or the 'Westminster Village', and Nadine Dorries once told us that neither David…
The flaw in the Fatwa on the so-called Islamic State
This really is quite magnificent. To those who insist Muslims cannot or will not integrate with or conform to British values, customs and traditions, this fatwa (= religious opinion; not…