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Diary: jobs gone; more in peril. No sanctuary in the Catholic church Diary: jobs gone; more in peril. No sanctuary in the Catholic church
(5 months later)
• Hard times afflict the country, and among the institutions feeling the pinch is the Catholic church. With a brave new pope at the helm there has been an attempt to propagate a new vision. But it all seems different on the ground. The church in England and Wales has a network of justice and peace workers, but the money's tight and jobs are disappearing. Observers have taken to counting them out and counting them in. Last year the diary chronicled the machinations of the bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davis, in getting rid of the justice and peace worker Joan Sharples. Now Leeds diocese has got rid of its fieldworker Shelagh Fawcett, who has taken her case to an employment tribunal with the support of her union, Unite. Storm clouds are also gathering in Wrexham diocese where the position of fieldworker Maria Pizzoni is under review. Other casualties in recent times have been the workers in the Portsmouth and Salford dioceses. Just 10, mainly part-time, workers remain across the 22 dioceses of England and Wales. Time for the new guy in the Vatican to take a stand, grumble the activists. More to community engagement, they say, than washing feet.• Hard times afflict the country, and among the institutions feeling the pinch is the Catholic church. With a brave new pope at the helm there has been an attempt to propagate a new vision. But it all seems different on the ground. The church in England and Wales has a network of justice and peace workers, but the money's tight and jobs are disappearing. Observers have taken to counting them out and counting them in. Last year the diary chronicled the machinations of the bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davis, in getting rid of the justice and peace worker Joan Sharples. Now Leeds diocese has got rid of its fieldworker Shelagh Fawcett, who has taken her case to an employment tribunal with the support of her union, Unite. Storm clouds are also gathering in Wrexham diocese where the position of fieldworker Maria Pizzoni is under review. Other casualties in recent times have been the workers in the Portsmouth and Salford dioceses. Just 10, mainly part-time, workers remain across the 22 dioceses of England and Wales. Time for the new guy in the Vatican to take a stand, grumble the activists. More to community engagement, they say, than washing feet.
• More proof that a year really can make all the difference. This was David Bailey, the uber star photographer shamelessly flouting public convention last year. "I like George Osborne," he said, holding forth in his London studio. "He came here a couple of times; he had a sense of humour. He seemed to make sense to me." Not so keen now. George has him riled over the rights and wrongs of photographic copyright. Bailey has written a caustic personal letter to the chancellor as part of a campaign by the British Press Photographers' Association. "I am appalled at what the government is doing to our rights," he tells Gideon. "Social media, and everyone else for that matter routinely strip our names and contact details from our digital files. They simply should not be allowed to get away with this. They can because our government refuses to give us the right to our names by our pictures." The enterprise and regulatory reform bill, says Bailey, "should never have been even considered without first giving us our moral rights, and is contrary to our rights". He says it also breaches the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. "Think again, George," pleads Bailey. But half the country has been yelling that at Osborne since 2010.• More proof that a year really can make all the difference. This was David Bailey, the uber star photographer shamelessly flouting public convention last year. "I like George Osborne," he said, holding forth in his London studio. "He came here a couple of times; he had a sense of humour. He seemed to make sense to me." Not so keen now. George has him riled over the rights and wrongs of photographic copyright. Bailey has written a caustic personal letter to the chancellor as part of a campaign by the British Press Photographers' Association. "I am appalled at what the government is doing to our rights," he tells Gideon. "Social media, and everyone else for that matter routinely strip our names and contact details from our digital files. They simply should not be allowed to get away with this. They can because our government refuses to give us the right to our names by our pictures." The enterprise and regulatory reform bill, says Bailey, "should never have been even considered without first giving us our moral rights, and is contrary to our rights". He says it also breaches the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. "Think again, George," pleads Bailey. But half the country has been yelling that at Osborne since 2010.
• Readers get in touch about the charity runner Joe Derrett. Yesterday we revealed his plans to run the London Marathon on Sunday and "run the 26 miles again in reverse the following day". Does this mean, we are asked, that he will complete the route again from finish to start or that he will begin at the beginning running backwards? We are told it is the former. At least that was the plan. But there's precious little he won't do to raise some money.• Readers get in touch about the charity runner Joe Derrett. Yesterday we revealed his plans to run the London Marathon on Sunday and "run the 26 miles again in reverse the following day". Does this mean, we are asked, that he will complete the route again from finish to start or that he will begin at the beginning running backwards? We are told it is the former. At least that was the plan. But there's precious little he won't do to raise some money.
• And so The Lady exited the public stage as she arrived, the object of adoration and subject of division. Her legacy continues to create friends and foes, both here and across the Atlantic. A measure of pushing and shoving in the Senate, reports the Hill website. They would have liked a unanimously agreed resolution marking the death of our now departed, but couldn't agree what to put in it. The problem was what to say about the Falklands, apparently, and her role in the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe. Still, even the doubters hail her for standing "shoulder to shoulder with United States leaders against the Soviet Union and the threats posed by communism". She always seemed much more attractive from further away.• And so The Lady exited the public stage as she arrived, the object of adoration and subject of division. Her legacy continues to create friends and foes, both here and across the Atlantic. A measure of pushing and shoving in the Senate, reports the Hill website. They would have liked a unanimously agreed resolution marking the death of our now departed, but couldn't agree what to put in it. The problem was what to say about the Falklands, apparently, and her role in the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe. Still, even the doubters hail her for standing "shoulder to shoulder with United States leaders against the Soviet Union and the threats posed by communism". She always seemed much more attractive from further away.
• How much will yesterday's pageantry cost? The figure one hears is £10m, although on Wednesday morning, quizzed on the BBC's Today programme, Francis Maude denied it. But it will cost a pretty penny. There is a case to be made, and Francis made it, but as the bills come in one might recall that in her pomp the Thatcher government stopped the funeral grants paid to poor families if it emerged that any of the family members were striking miners. So we'll cough up, but if there's resentment at the grand state whipround for the event just passed, that's no surprise.• How much will yesterday's pageantry cost? The figure one hears is £10m, although on Wednesday morning, quizzed on the BBC's Today programme, Francis Maude denied it. But it will cost a pretty penny. There is a case to be made, and Francis made it, but as the bills come in one might recall that in her pomp the Thatcher government stopped the funeral grants paid to poor families if it emerged that any of the family members were striking miners. So we'll cough up, but if there's resentment at the grand state whipround for the event just passed, that's no surprise.
Twitter: @hugh_muirTwitter: @hugh_muir
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