By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here

Donald Trump, after surviving an assassination attempt, 15 July

The reinvigorated, near-sainthood status of Trump makes it even more necessary that Biden makes way for a younger candidate, but such logic is not currently prevailing

William Hague, columnist, The Times, 16 July

The sports cars, Rolexes, nightclubs, diamond earrings, and three-in-a-bed “romps”. . . Yeah — you would have been worried if your daughter said she was marrying one of those guys. These days, however, if your daughter said, “I’m marrying one of the England team” you’d probably be delighted. This team of young, dedicated, talented men have made the whole country’s hearts swell

Caitlin Moran, columnist, The Times, 15 July

Whatever the combination of language and holy book, it could be swiftly organised by the brilliant black-gowned clerks of the Commons. I genuinely believe that if an MP had asked to affirm in Old Norse holding a 1974 manual for a Ford Cortina, the clerks would have quickly obliged

Leo Devine, Religion and Media Centre blog, 12 July

Culpability is essential for reckless or persistent negligence or wrongdoing. But scapegoating leads to fearful leadership, weak institutions and harm. A leader may rightly be accountable, but forgivable if they understand what has gone wrong — and seek to put it right

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Prospect, August/September 2024 issue

If we are indeed living through a period where historic party identities, even to some extent the conventional categories of left and right, are in flux, the crudity of a first-past-the-post model becomes starkly evident. If we are seriously interested in accountability, there is a case for devising an electoral system that does a better job of it

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Prospect, August/September 2024 issue

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