Minority report The Queen signed a new Commonwealth charter denouncing ‘discrimination of all kinds’, leading campaigners to suggest that she was supporting gay marriage. Peter Tatchell asserted that 6 per cent of the population are gay. What other estimates are there? — 37% by Dr Alfred Kinsey in 1953 (strictly an estimate of men who
Home Chris Huhne, the energy secretary until last year, and his former wife Vicky Pryce were each sentenced to eight months in jail for perverting the course of justice. Huhne’s sentence was reduced by 10 per cent as he had pleaded guilty, on the eve of his trial. Abu Qatada was returned to prison for
From Robert Runcie’s attack on Tory Pharisees to Rowan Williams’s missives on the Iraq war, the ecclesiastical opposition housed in Lambeth Palace has in recent times been a frequent source of unease to the government of the day. If any ministers were hoping Justin Welby would be a quieter presence than his predecessor, they were
Former Lib Dem Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has been sentenced to eight months in jail, a judge has announced at Southwark Crown Court in the last few minutes. His ex-wife Vicky Pryce was also sentenced for eight months. It’s worth reading the interview that Chris Huhne gave to the Guardian’s Patrick Wintour before his sentencing at Southwark
‘They’ve been closed to stop benefit tourists from using them.’
‘I’ve got a book in me.’
‘Form follows function, Mr Chairman.’
‘And don’t go rushing back to work, Ma’am. I hear that Helen Mirren is doing an excellent job.’
‘If I’d known I was going to get charged extra to bring this stuff on my journey to the next world, I wouldn’t have been buried with so much of it.’
‘The congregation’s adamant, Vicar — she’s against gay marriage.’
‘It’s a prequel!’
‘I’m finished as a cardinal — I think I’ll become a Liberal Democrat.’
‘Think of it as downsizing.’
‘Outrageous, disgraceful, unfair — and that’s just my bonus!’
‘We’re invited to dinner at the Biebers’ — seven for nine-thirty.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re STILL depressed.’
Gove’s history lessons Sir: ‘The idea that there is a canonical body of knowledge that must be mastered,’ says Professor Jackie Eales, ‘but not questioned, is inconsistent with high standards of education in any age.’ This is not true. Primary education is, or should be, all about just such a body of knowledge. This gives