A controversial week reviewed

It started with the now infamous diatribe from a previously unknown tabloid columnist, Jan Moir, sharing, in the Daily Mail, her thoughts on the late Stephen Gately and the circumstances leading to his death, gay partnerships, and the like. An expert seemingly on all matters gay, legal and pretty much all else it seems, there was nothing but overt homophopbia in her comments and the tone, quite apart from choice of medium, was little helped by her (later) self-claimed "record" on supporting gay causes. Vile person: I hope that the censure of the Press Complaints Commission (should it actually have some bite after the 25,000+ complaints) and Police enquiry really do force her back into the hole from which her filth and views crept forth in the first place.

I do not subscribe to Matthew Parris' view, either, that the article was justifiable as it "merely reflected the conversations in the pub". That form of acquiensence is, in my mind, illustrative of cowardice and suggests an element of self-loathing. A journalist of far higher standing, he could have used that to far greater good. A disappointing response from an out gay man, however - also a former Tory MP - perhaps he really is the face of the modern Conservative Party.

That was followed by the British National Party being provided a face and voice on the BBC Question Time programme. I think that was a huge mistake, and the subsequent opinion polls that suggest a following of 20% across the country give little cause for optimism.

Providing people like Moir and Griffin a platform opens up the way for other extremists - Christian, Muslim, nationalists and extreme socialists etc - to voice their equally unsavoury views. If we are serious about protecting democracy, and the freedom of speech and conviction, then we must be on our guard that they are not eroded by the voices of extremism using those fundamental rights as a cover from whence to gain personal power over the voices of moderation, toleration and co-operation.

In my Father's house there are many rooms ... there may indeed be: but that does not mean there is room for hatred and people of such evil dispositions.

And finally we have the Church of England in complete disarray because the Pope has offered about 600 priests a home in Rome. Nothing new in it: I wish them well. Their desire to be led by the voices of the past, rather than moving forward in Faith that these two wings of of the broader church that is Christendom, could one day draw in together and find a single unified voice, is saddening. One of their number described the Church of England as the Church of Political Correctness ... he may be right: but at least it is an inclusive church and not one divided by sex, sexuality (on the surface), and other perceptions of imperfection.

Green Champion points

It's official: from today I'm a Green Champion.

Looking at my Twitter just now I see that I'm in very good company as no lesser figure than the Archbishop of Canterbury was delivering a lecture in Southwark recently on the need for us to act not just internationally but locally too. And I guess that's the point of it: small actions can add up to make a huge difference.

Horticulturists tend to have a fairly solid grounding in recycling and caring for the environment - so I guess that I'm a little further along the line than many. However: that said, our recycling habits at home over the past three months have had a dramatic effect: where previously three black plastic bags sat on the pavement each Wednesday, only one now sits and that is often not full. Our green waste from the garden goes out once a fortnight, plastics (Nos 1 and 2 ONLY I've now learnt) every intervening fortnight and so on.

This autumn has been in my mind very dry and this does not, unfortunately, bode well for watering next summer. Green manures and mulching with this last summer's annuals and any other green waste will help to cut down the amount that borders need to see them through. Our own garden has never had any bought mulch added - benefiting hugely from the deciduous nature of most of the shrubs and silver birch tree.

Sitting through today's presentations, though, made me realise just how much of an uphill struggle we now face: we think we're being green by handing out cotton shopping bags (recyclable of course!) to replace the ubiquitous plastic carrier bag and yet nobody stops to think where that cotton came from (southern England?) nor the hefty toll that cotton tends to take out of usually quite marginal agricultural soils in the Third World.

Dreamer that I am, I pause and wonder too about the impact of us suddenly all changing the consumer habits of our particular generation. Trade with the Third World would dry up causing a return to crushing poverty and the atttractiveness of socialism, the air travel industry would falter and our coffee shop culture disappear.

I am conscious,though, too of just how privaledged we all are living in Europe. "Stop destroying the climate" we lecture as we sip our coffees, chat on our mobile telephones, surf the internet on ever smarter and lighter computers and get stuck into ever cheaper meals. Thank goodness the Third World's environmental crises and climatic disasters are never closer than the television screen in our sitting rooms . . .