The Spectator

Home David Chaytor, the Labour MP for Bury North from 1997 to 2010, was sentenced to 18 months for false accounting under the Theft Act 1968 regarding his claims for parliamentary expenses. Eric Illsley, the Labour MP for Barnsley, who was re-elected last May with a majority of 11,000, was convicted of fraudulently claiming more than £14,000 in parliamentary expenses. A sixth-former was jailed for 32 months after admitting throwing an empty fire-extinguisher from the seventh floor of the Millbank building during student protests last November. Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, declared his support for ‘alarm-clock Britain’. Stuart Wheeler, who gave £5 million to the Conservative party in 2001, joined Ukip as its treasurer.

Almost 20 years ago, Samuel Huntingdon forecast a ‘clash of civilisations’. Almost 20 years ago, Samuel Huntingdon forecast a ‘clash of civilisations’. In the past few months, this clash has become outright war. Christian minorities, who have lived peacefully in Muslim countries for generations, are finding themselves subject to increasingly violent persecution. Churches are being attacked in Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines. The recent assassination in Pakistan of a Muslim politician who defended a Christian woman sentenced to death for ‘insulting’ Islam was particularly shocking. Pakistan has had blasphemy laws since its inception, but never before have they been used to persecute Christians.

Every day of this new year, some 200,000 people are likely to be lifted out of what the United Nations defines as extreme poverty: living on $1.25 a day or less. Every day of this new year, some 200,000 people are likely to be lifted out of what the United Nations defines as extreme poverty: living on $1.25 a day or less. This remarkable pace of improvement will probably quicken over the rest of the decade. This is not due to any government development goal or charity outreach programme. It is driven by global capitalism, just like the transformation of India, China and other emerging markets. We are living in a golden age of poverty reduction, yet we seldom hear about it. Politicians and the media tend, for good reason, to focus on the world’s problems.

Home Nine men were charged with conspiracy to bomb London targets such as the Stock Exchange and the tower of Big Ben before Christmas. Three of the men, aged between 19 and 28, came from Cardiff, two from London and four from Stoke-on-Trent. The Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester, spoke of ‘an imbalance in the legal position with regard to the freedom of Christians and people of other faiths to pursue the calling of their faith in public life’. Stephen Griffiths, the self-styled Crossbow Cannibal, was said to be refusing food in jail after his conviction for murdering three prostitutes. Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton said they would do without servants after their wedding, for the time being at least.