It not that often that I come across an article in the Guardian that leave me grinding my teeth in sheer frustration, save for those rare occasions on which the newspaper has given Nadine Dorries an undeserved platform. However, this truly dreadful piece of naked churnalism by the […]

Apropos of my last article on tokenism and gender balance in the composition of BBC Question Time panels, I’ve now pulled together a complete list of the people who have made at least one appearance on a Question Time panel since January 2009 and am looking for a […]

As one idiotic idea fades temporarily (?) into the background with the withdrawal of Nadine Dorries’ misconceived abstinence education bill from last Friday’s House of Commons order paper, another resurfaces in the form of proposals to alter the current framework for pre-abortion counselling which are, in part, a […]

To give credit where it’s due, Lord Alton has published the full text of the letter he received from Lord Howe on the subject of the cost of abortion services to the NHS, giving us the opportunity to make a direct comparison between the contents of the letter […]

Every so often you run across something across a commentary on the internet which leaves you wondering not only whether you’re reading the same thing as the author of commentary but even whether you even inhabit the same planet. The September 29th issue of the prestigious general science […]

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, its back to the subject of abortion we go courtesy of the Daily Telegraph, whose fact-checking department is evidently still on an extended holiday: Abortion costs £30m higher than previously thought No, not really… Taxpayers spend £30million a year more on abortion than previously thought, the […]

Ordinarily I respond to comments at the Ministry in the usual way, i.e. by way a direct response in the same comments thread. But, every once in a while I get a comment which deserves a somewhat and more considered response, i.e. a separate post and this is […]

If there’s one piece of law that, more than any other, is guaranteed to generate media coverage that makes you want to headdesk then it has to be section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, which reads as follows: 5 Harassment, alarm or distress. (1)A person is […]

As you might well imagine, the Catholic Herald is anything but regular reading at the Ministry. Nevertheless, a couple of recent articles published in the Herald have caught my eye because they disclose one or two interesting tidbits of information in relation to issues I’ve covered in a […]

Simon Caldwell’s article in yesterday’s Telegraph, which tries to suggest that BPAS and Marie Stopes International may have made inflated claims about the number of women who book consultations with them but then decide against having an abortion is, to say the least, another veritable cornucopia of tendentious […]