Archbishop Welby's unprecedented resignation Wednesday, 13 November, 2024 At the end of the 17th century an Archbishop of Canterbury resigned because he was unwilling to swear allegiance to the Dutch King William III and his English wife Queen Mary II. On November 12, Archbishop Welby became the first to do so since then. The circumstances were very different. He departed in response to heavy criticism of his handling of the most serious abuse case in church history... Articles
More boarding school places for children in care 19th April 2024 The number of children in the care of local authorities is rocketing - up from 64,500 in 2010 to nearly 84,000 today. But local authorities, strapped for cash... Speeches
How Queen Victoria hounded her Prime Ministers 17th April 2024 She gave them no peace. A marvellous new book gives the details of her tempestuous relations with them. Alistair Lexden reviewed it in Parliament’s magazine The... Articles
Labour's threat to Special Educational Needs 15th April 2024 Labour’s plan to slap VAT on independent school fees would hurt (indeed destroy) many schools and harm many pupils—in an attempt to raise money for extra public... Recent NewsSpeeches
A Conservative statesman and his portrait painter 5th April 2024 In March, a superb portrait of Arthur Balfour by the famous portrait painter, Philip de Laszlo, in Trinity College, Cambridge was seriously damaged by vandals... Recent NewsSpeeches
The wrong 1910 election 4th April 2024 1910 was a year of two general elections, the first in January and the second in December. At both elections the Liberal Party was led by Herbert Asquith, who... ArticlesRecent News
Women at the Carlton Club 26th March 2024 In mid-March the Garrick Club came under intense fire for excluding women from membership. Questions were asked about other well-known London clubs. Some have... Articles
Lexden on the 1923 General Election 26th March 2024 December last year brought the centenary of a General Election which had a double significance: it put an end to Stanley Baldwin’s short-lived first Government... ArticlesRecent News
Churchill's sensational by-election a hundred years ago 25th March 2024 In March 1924, the first Labour Government was in office. Winston Churchill, then a Liberal, had been defeated at the last two general elections. He was... Articles
Our duty to LGBT service veterans 22nd March 2024 Between 1967 and 2000 - when homosexuality was no longer a criminal offence in civilian life - some 20,000 gay people were thrown out of the Armed Forces... Recent NewsSpeeches
