Queen speaks of Church of England duty to all faiths

Clash of colours as Queen meets Archbishop

Today the Queen spoke to a multi-faith gathering where she told them of her belief that the Church of England has "a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths" in the UK. She argued the Church's role was not to "defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions". That sounds good to me, although I don't hold that Anglicanism is a religion but an expression of a religion, namely Christianity. Seeing as there are catholics and others within the broad canopy of the Church of England, it is nice to hear that the monarch is committed to "active co-operation" and "building a better society".

However, such sentiments will be lost if certain elements in the Church of England can act with an uncharitable approach to those who, in clear conscience, cannot subscribe to radical alteration of the sacraments. This being all in the name of modernity and keeping pace with the whims of the world.

The Daily Telegraph reported a female cleric as saying that those who do not acquiesce to the new doctrines can leave. Charity in full flow, active co-operation? Hardly! Just a triumphalism of a tiny minority of worldwide Christianity. Lucy Winkett, one of the BBC's prized clerics for Thought For The Day, was suggesting the other day that of the 2 billion Christians in the world, hardly any had witnessed the workings a female cleric. She implied that they were being denied something. But her unilateral approach to changing the Faith is without universal agreement. It cannot be catholic by its nature.

Active co-operation is to be applauded, but total imposition of minority beliefs on others is to be decried.

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Queen visits Ireland today

Queen opening hospital wing in Londonderry 2009

Her Majesty The Queen is making a state visit to the Republic of Ireland today. This is not her first visit to Ireland, but it is her first visit to the Republic of Ireland, or Eire as my prep school Geography master from Lisburn called it. The BBC is keen to be telling us that this is "the first time a British Monarch has set foot on Irish soil since independence from British rule", which is a bit of a twist on history.

Ireland was, as a whole island, fully part of the United Kingdom from 1st January 1801 until 6th December 1922, when the south of Ireland assumed independence within the Commonwealth. It was called the Irish Free State and the King of Ireland became the King in Ireland. The Free State ended in 1937 and the Republic was formed, with no king in or out!

The BBC seems to forget that the Free State was what many Irishmen wanted. They do not mention it. They have mentioned the Irish who fought in the Great War and were inconveniently forgotten, which was a disgrace. However, the majority of the Irish people supported and voted for complete severance, and that is what seems predominant. We may be getting a similar run of political manoeuvring in Scotland, although Alex Salmond is a very much a creature of 2011 and not a back of the hay trailer tubthumper of 1911.

I hope the Queen's visit goes well. It seems most Irish people are at ease with the relationship between the Republic and the UK. We need to put enmity aside, if enmity there is and enjoy our common heritage and blood ties, for there are many of those.

Queen in Northern Ireland 2009

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Queen beheaded in mock Dublin execution

Mock execution in Dublin 

Some Irish people are tearing their hearts and minds out with hatred and vitriole. Currently the Republic of Ireland is a basket case financially. There are a few that would wish it to become a basket case morally, spiritually and democratically as well. A group calling themselves Éirígí staged a mock execution in Dublin yesterday. Sacrilege on a Sunday! And very distasteful given recent events. Of course, such things have always been attractive to republican Irishmen. They desecrated Easter Sunday once.

Complete with a portable guillotine they cut off the head of a plastic replica (not a great likeness) of the Queen. Supposedly this was to make a point about the Queen's visit to Dublin. I've looked at the website of these revolutionary socialists. They babble on about freedom, yet if they ever got to control the Dail (by foul means rather fair, no doubt) most decent Irish people would either have fled from their clutches or decided a counter revolution was the best bet.

These people are dreamers with acid in their veins. They think the ills of their world are all down to Elizabeth Windsor, as the impudently call the Queen. I suppose she had a guiding hand in the Irish banks going for broke.

Most people in Ireland welcome this visit. In fact, if Queen Victoria hadn't been such a recluse she might have wowed Dubliners a bit better. Her first visit was in 1849, described as a public relations success by many accounts. By the time she did eventually return, some 51 years later in 1900, she had left it a little too late. Just as in the American Colonies, it was never a foregone conclusion that independence from the British Crown was desired. It was more down to meddling, arrogant politicians not giving an inch to reasonable demands, although Queen Victoria didn't help much. If you don't see someone for 51 years what are you expected to think?

I hope the Queen is given a warm welcome. Obviously she has been asked by the Irish government to come. It would be churlish if the reception was cool and distant, outrageous if it was abused by raving revolutionary socialists.

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Pope and Queen to have beano at Buck House!

The Queen has invited the Pope to stay at Buckingham Palace when he comes to visit next year. She will be able to tell him how "appalled" she is with the state of the Church of England. The Daily Telegraph reports that the Catholic Herald thinks she also has "an affinity with the Holy Father, who is of her generation". They will have a lot to discuss. As Supreme Governor and Defender of the Faith it must be particularly galling when you have to sit back and watch some of the antics and complete disregard for the doctrines traditionally held.

In fact, her role now is more akin to the previous chief executives of Woolworths mulling over the Pick 'N Mix counters. If it carries on much longer she will have a state funeral carried out by a transgendered cleric clutching at straws and rabbits' feet!

Now she has dispensed with the likely lads and ladies of the synod, she can move gently across the tea and cakes and whisper, "More tea, Pope?".

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Michelle Obama is talk of the town!

I thought it would be a game of two halves. On the one side the Obama fans watching their team, cheering them on wildly with much praise and enthusiasm. On the other side the G20 protesters getting their necks strangled by off-duty coppers who suddenly find they are on-duty.

The G20 is all smiles and cheery banter, led on by the smiling Gordon Brown and the smirking Peter Mandelson. No wonder Angela Merkel looks so cheesed off all the time. It must get a bit wearing all this bonhomie and backslapping.

Michelle Obama doesn't have Frau Merkel's worries. She's far more in demand. Rebecca Smith, who had come down from Leicester to see the First Lady, was one of the hundreds of people waiting to catch a glimpse of the Obamas. "She seems to be a good role model. A strong, intelligent woman. I think she'll go down very well here. People have warmed to the Obamas. I don't think you'd see this crowd for many other dignitaries," she said. It is a very good thing that a woman like Michelle Obama can lift people out of their present concerns and give them the feeling that somebody is on their wavelength.

Trudi Cogdell, a patient at Maggie's Cancer Centre in West London, described her meeting with the First Lady as "very friendly". "She's a lovely lady, she's very open... she'd talk to anyone". That's what I think is the greatest asset in leadership. Far too many in high office have a disdain for meeting people. Michelle Obama is exactly the opposite.

Outside Buckingham Palace, Kevin Egglestone, an American who is studying in London, said Mrs Obama had a unique appeal. "I think it's hard for people to dislike her once they see her. She's always smiling, has a little bit of glamour and a knnowing wink. Seeing a First Lady that represents a part of America that is engaging and not aloof who you feel you can approach, will also give people the feeling that they can engage with America." Amen to that.

And she was such a hit with the Queen, that her Majesty said, "Now we've met, will you please keep in touch?"

Americans should be justly proud of their First Lady and her inate understanding of how to interact with people.

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Obama not to give Queen DVD gift!

Barack Obama is getting lessons in royal etiquette and gift giving. Much time is now being spent on whether the First Lady sits or stands and whether a gold-encrusted boxed collection of DVDs would trump the Wal-Mart bargain that Gordon Brown received! Apparently they were NTSC format and can't be used in the UK. So Brown never got to watch these movies!

It's all a load of rubbish, this business of not trying to put a foot wrong. The harder you try the more likely you are to fall. If I were Obama I'd tell the flunkies in the White House to take a break. Let him just talk naturally to the Queen. She likes normal people not fakes. She will be in 30 minuters of animated conversation with this charming (literally) man and his wife. He doesn't need a prep talk from them.

And as for a gift, well, give him ideas, but don't make a meal of it!

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