“The Chancellor is expected to…” that’s the headline on BBC Five Live’s breakfast news bulletins today – with similar being used across the BBC network and throughout the media. But what, exactly, is the Chancellor expected to do? Or, more importantly, who is it that expects him to do this? What we do know is […]
Category: Politics
Actions speak louder than words
I have just received two identical letters from my gas and electricity supplier SSE (or, SSE Energy Supply Ltd and Southern Electric Gas Ltd, to give the separate companies their proper legal names). The letters begin: “When it comes to customer service, Southern Electric believe you should be treated as we’d like to be treated […]
Is it time to stop hunting Nazi war criminals?
The recent death of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke in Italy has re-opened a debate about whether or not it is now time to draw a line under Hitler’s atrocities. Priebke massacred 335 civilians at Ardeatine near Rome in 1944, on direct orders from Hitler personally. 75 Jews were amongst the 335 – this being […]
Can magistrates do away with the oath?
The Magistrates Association will today debate a motion put forward by Bristol JPs Ian Abrahams and Kate Rowe to replace the oath and affirmation sworn by witnesses before they give evidence with a simple promise. The motion, to be debated this afternoon at the Association’s AGM in Cardiff, states a: This Annual General Meeting believes […]
Government-owned Student Loans Company issues spurious legal threat to press
On Monday 28th May 2012, former Prime Minister Tony Blair was giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into the press. Over the course of that week a number of cabinet ministers gave evidence: Theresa May, Michael Gove, Vince Cable, Kenneth Clarke and Jeremy Hunt. It followed a sensational week of evidence from a succession of […]
Trust me, I’m a journalist!
Tomorrow (Wednesday), the Church and Media Network will hold a day-conference in London exploring issues of trust in the media. It’s an important subject and could not be more topical. The conference blurb says: “It has been a traumatic period for everyone who works in media, with a constant stream of stories in which the […]
Great speeches that were never delivered: Part One – Neville Chamberlain
Great speeches that were never delivered: Part One – Neville Chamberlain 11.15am, 3rd September 1939 “I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street. “This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were […]
Coroner rebuked for “shame on media” comments at Lucy Meadows inquest
The coroner who presided over the inquest into the death of Lucy Meadows has been rebuked by the Office for Judicial Complaints for carrying out private research into the case and for his outspoken attack on journalists covering the hearing. Lucy Meadows killed herself in March, just a few months after she began to live […]
“Embarrassing security failure” or embarrassing lack of religious literacy
A man was arrested yesterday morning (Sunday) after two people were assaulted at York Minster. You can read about it on most UK news websites (but if you’re particularly discerning you can read my report for the Church Times here). An unusually high number of journalists were inside the Minster when the assaults took place because […]
Bishops in the House of Lords
Calls for the Lords Spiritual to be removed from the House of Lords are nothing new. It is a frequent occurrence that only increases whenever the 24 bishops who occupy the Bishops’ Benches are perceived to be holding back the advance of progressive liberalism, such as the current Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. But it […]