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2 days ago
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Why are we still allowing the Church of England or the Catholic church to “police” themselves (The Observer view on the Church of England: how does it recover after its annus horribilis?, Editorial). The likes of Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell should not have been allowed to resign; they should have been removed from their posts, very publicly, and stripped of their titles and all the accoutrements that come with them – including pensions.
By not speaking out, and by covering the abhorrent behaviour of the abusers, they were complicit in these acts. If the church is struggling to find “harmless bishops”, then there is all the more urgency to get these people investigated. There should be an open, independent review into all the churches’ leaders, priests, vicars – starting from the top down. Wheedle out those who have been put on a quiet “retreat” – those who have gone under the radar – no matter the age.
The victims who may have been silent up to this point need the confidence to know that some kind of justice will be done. To know that there are people being allowed to work as religious figures, preaching about love and Christianity, and they are not safe on their own with children, sickens me to my core.
Sarah Stackman
Pewsham, Chippenham, Wiltshire
There are sound Christian reasons for removing Anglican bishops from the House of Lords, as well as those cited by Catherine Bennett (“Our rarely apologise, never resign bishops don’t deserve comfortable lives in the Lords”, Comment).
Having a privileged religious element in the constitutional power structures of a democracy is no way to get people to take the life and words of Jesus seriously. In times past I have enjoyed good working relationships with several C of E bishops but there are much better ways of relating Christian beliefs to political issues than giving a platform to “Lords Spiritual”.
Reverend Geoff Reid
retired Methodist minister,
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
For 460 years the Church of England denied women the opportunity to serve as priests. In its current state, perhaps for the next 460 years it should deny that opportunity to men.
John Ashby
Oxford
1984 looms large
The photo of Nick Candy, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage beaming in front of a portrait of Donald Trump brought to mind the feeling that we are sleepwalking towards a nightmarish, populist 1984 scenario (“Labour fears grow as Reform eyes victories in local election battleground”, News).
If Reform, funded by Musk or otherwise, achieves power in the UK, we’ll undoubtedly hitch our wagon to the US, becoming Airstrip One and forming Oceania. Meanwhile, as Russia continues to increase its influence in eastern Europe through interference in elections, and China increases its hegemony in the Far East, the Eurasia and Eastasia blocs are forming.
The threat to our democracy is real, and genuine democrats of all mainstream parties need to realise this. Our last government helped set the scene by which Reform can prosper, and this is being reinforced by the current government which is scoring so many clumsy own goals that it has gone from hero to zero in less than six months.
Reform’s access to social media through Musk’s companies, and support from the popular press, will make it hard for counter-populist arguments to be made. It’s not too late for a wake-up call to be heeded, but what will be a relentless battle of minds needs to start now. I wonder what George Orwell would have made of it.
Steve Brooks
North Shields, Tyne and Wear
Taking the joy out of teaching
The education secretary is rightly concerned with the recruitment and retention crises in England’s schools (“Teachers should be allowed more flexible working, says Bridget Phillipson”, News). She sees staffing flexibility as key but nowhere in last week’s educational article does she identity the fundamental underlying problem.
That key issue is not pay and conditions, important as they are. It is the unwelcoming accountability regime that takes the joy and spontaneity out of teaching, which puts great pressures on both teachers and pupils and which makes education a tested commodity rather than an enterprise of personal flourishing. The key to resolving both crises is a fundamentally reformed, more humane inspection and assessment system.
Professor Colin Richards
Spark Bridge, Cumbria
A walk through history
I was pleased to see the Natural History Museum’s urban nature project heading Rowan Moore’s five best projects of 2024 (“Critics’ review of 2024”, New Review).
The fabulous rock garden is distinguished in a way that few, perhaps even its creators, seem to have noticed: it begins and ends with Stonehenge. You enter by walking past slabs of Lewisian gneiss from the Western Isles, the UK’s oldest rock represented at Stonehenge by its finest artefact, a macehead that must have been carried from the far north of Scotland.
And you leave past sarsen boulders, the stone from which the large megaliths were carved: one of the garden’s sarsens came from West Woods on the Marlborough Downs, recently claimed as the source for Stonehenge. The garden is a stimulating challenge to the British Museum as it rethinks its own open space.
Mike Pitts
Marlborough, Wiltshire
It’s what I want…
Regarding Martha Gill’s column, I would argue that, while money doesn’t always bring you happiness, it makes being miserable bearable “Belief in a lottery curse is comforting, but winning lots of money does make you happy”, Comment).
Katie Richards
Hailsham, East Sussex
Lost, and found
Hooray for Eva Wiseman finding her ring (“Christmas shopping is rubbish. I found my best gift in the bin”, Magazine, last week). I, too, felt as if all my Christmases had come at once last week.
My lost front-door key wasn’t in the car, it wasn’t on the beach, nor had it been handed in to the nearby cafe or the swimming pool, where they let me in to search the locker and the cubicle. I paced the car park and then sent away for an identical key ring with a wooden owl. The next day, I went to the car to get my boots, lifted the cloth I attach to the windscreen in case of frost and, lo and behold, now visible was the keyring hanging from one of the magnets that attach it to the windscreen.
The last time I lost it on the same bit of beach a lovely anonymous person handed it into the cafe who posted it on our local lost and found page. Happy retrieving, everyone.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife
