God forbid
Irish police investigated Stephen Fry over a complaint of blasphemy, which is no longer a criminal offence in Britain.
— The last prosecution was a private case brought by Mary Whitehouse against Gay News and its editor Denis Lemon over a poem in which a Roman centurion tells of having sex with Jesus after his crucifixion. Gay News was fined £1,000 and Lemon £500; he also received a suspended jail sentence.
— The last man in Britain jailed for blasphemy was Bradford trouser salesman John William Gott, who got nine months’ hard labour in 1921 for calling Jesus a circus clown. He died soon after his release.
Left-leaning
Brexit is a key factor in the coming general election. What percentage of each party’s voters in 2015 voted Leave last June?
| Ukip | 98 |
| Conservative | 58 |
| Labour | 36 |
| Lib Dem | 26 |
| Green | 21 |
Source: NatCen Social Research
Counted out
An Indonesian man died at the claimed age of 146, which cannot be authenticated because the country’s birth records did not begin until 1900.
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