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| Diary: The Christian Legal Centre racks up another defeat | Diary: The Christian Legal Centre racks up another defeat |
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| • A small triumph for Boris Johnson against the wrath of conservative Christian lobbyists who took him to court in the long-running battle of the bus ads. You may remember that the gay rights campaigners from Stonewall were allowed to run an advert on the side of London buses two years ago saying: “Some People are Gay. Get Over It.” But when an evangelical body called Core Issues Trust wanted to retaliate with “Not Gay. Post Gay. Ex-Gay and Proud. Get Over It”, the advert was banned. Boris’s view was that the slogan suggested that gay people were sick but could be cured and was accordingly offensive. The evangelicals have been hounding him ever since through the Christian Legal Centre, the body that takes all the cases alleging discrimination against Christians who want to discriminate against gay people – and generally loses them. Today it racked up another defeat in the high court. Mrs Justice Lang ruled that Boris was entitled to take the view he did and the Christians had not proved he was motivated by a desire for electoral advantage in the forthcoming mayoral election. It has left the legal centre’s Andrea Williams fuming, not for the first time, about a bad day for free speech: “No one wants to hear the other side.” She claims she doesn’t want to cure anyone, but she does not like gays having sex either. Possibly time for new lawyers, or different advice. | |
| • Now that the Church of England has voted in favour of female bishops, just how helpful will the crown nominations committee that selects them be in making its choices? An analysis of the votes about the matter at the recent general synod shows that some lay members of the CNC clearly still have to be convinced. Although both archbishops and the clergy representatives on the CNC voted in favour of the move, two of the three lay members of the committee remain firmly opposed. One, Jane Patterson from Sheffield, is a conservative evangelical; and the other, Aidan Hargreaves-Smith of London, is a high church Anglo-Catholic – both from the factions resolutely against women’s ordination. They will remain in post for another year, by which time the first female bishops will have been appointed. They won’t be able to prevent that, but it does show the power of political lobbying within the church: congregations still opposed to female priests amount to about 10% of the total, yet they secured 66% of the national lay representation on the decision-making committee. | • Now that the Church of England has voted in favour of female bishops, just how helpful will the crown nominations committee that selects them be in making its choices? An analysis of the votes about the matter at the recent general synod shows that some lay members of the CNC clearly still have to be convinced. Although both archbishops and the clergy representatives on the CNC voted in favour of the move, two of the three lay members of the committee remain firmly opposed. One, Jane Patterson from Sheffield, is a conservative evangelical; and the other, Aidan Hargreaves-Smith of London, is a high church Anglo-Catholic – both from the factions resolutely against women’s ordination. They will remain in post for another year, by which time the first female bishops will have been appointed. They won’t be able to prevent that, but it does show the power of political lobbying within the church: congregations still opposed to female priests amount to about 10% of the total, yet they secured 66% of the national lay representation on the decision-making committee. |
| • One question that emerges from the government’s latest crackdown on EU immigrants is why it feels the need for extra measures. If it wasn’t bellowing so hard against all things European, it might notice that it already has powers under a 2004 directive to use an unreasonable burden test against migrants who throw themselves on a new country. This can kick in after three months if immigrants do not have a job, or have insufficient resources to support themselves or private health insurance. Other countries such as Belgium do this: even retrospectively to a French professor at a Brussels university because he had initially claimed housing benefit. You can argue it is a bit drastic or even inhumane, but the powers do exist – yet of course it is easier to blame the European Union. | • One question that emerges from the government’s latest crackdown on EU immigrants is why it feels the need for extra measures. If it wasn’t bellowing so hard against all things European, it might notice that it already has powers under a 2004 directive to use an unreasonable burden test against migrants who throw themselves on a new country. This can kick in after three months if immigrants do not have a job, or have insufficient resources to support themselves or private health insurance. Other countries such as Belgium do this: even retrospectively to a French professor at a Brussels university because he had initially claimed housing benefit. You can argue it is a bit drastic or even inhumane, but the powers do exist – yet of course it is easier to blame the European Union. |
| • Consolation for bathroom singers everywhere. Here’s Alan White, drummer with the prog rock band Yes in an interview with Uncut magazine about his colleague, the singer Jon Anderson: “We were in the studio for almost six months. One time Jon was singing, and he said, ‘It doesn’t sound like it does at home – in my bathroom it sounds great.’ So the roadies built a shower in the studio, and he sang the track in there.” | • Consolation for bathroom singers everywhere. Here’s Alan White, drummer with the prog rock band Yes in an interview with Uncut magazine about his colleague, the singer Jon Anderson: “We were in the studio for almost six months. One time Jon was singing, and he said, ‘It doesn’t sound like it does at home – in my bathroom it sounds great.’ So the roadies built a shower in the studio, and he sang the track in there.” |
| • A week since the Guardian columnist George Monbiot challenged former environment secretary Owen Patterson to a country walk together identifying flora and fauna following the sulky ex-minister’s contention that environmentalists can’t tell their snakeshead fritillaries from their silver-washed fritillaries and still no reply. We’re waiting, Owen. |
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