Marriage lines

URGING David Cameron not to legalise gay marriage, archbishop of York John Sentamu claimed that matrimony “was set in history” and by overturning the bible’s teachings the premier would be acting like a dictator.

Setting aside that marriage is comparatively recent, geologically speaking, Sentamu acts like a dictator himself.

It’s time for England’s second most-senior prelate to accept that state and religion are legally separated and neither his church nor any other can tell democratically elected politicians what to do.

…but only once a knight

BANKER Fred Goodwin, who cost British taxpayers £45 billion, has been stripped of his knighthood.

This was done on the advice of “a secretive Whitehall body which ensures the honours system does not fall into disrepute.”

Secretive it might be, but hardly efficient, as the “cash for honours” scandal demonstrated. And Sir Fred is probably crying all the way to – and from – the bank.

Same problem, different names

ALMOST four months after Gaddafi’s death, ‘Doctors without Borders’ have stopped their activities in Misrata (Libya).

They were being called to detention centres to treat prisoners tortured during interrogation so that they could be tortured once more.

It is to be hoped that Messrs Cameron, Sarkozy and Obama are now feeling a little less self-congratulatory about bringing ‘democracy’ to Libya than they were last October.