The bishop of Hope Street offers an organic remedy for no-hope ghettoes

This should have been Boris’s gig, of course. Our former editor’s perilous journey into the heart of the Scouse soul was a penance of sorts for that notorious Spectator editorial. But amid the media scrum, he didn’t have much chance to do anything but murmur a few defensive sorrys, hair flapping in the angry breeze. Closure wasn’t achieved. A Liverpool City Life from the great man’s pen might have made things better — or worse — but his thoughts have turned to London and good luck to him. Liverpool, meanwhile, has moved on too and I’m delighted to report that The Spectator remains substantially less loathed here than the Sun, which is still reviled for its critical take on the Hillsborough disaster 18 years ago.

Hillsborough, the Sheffield stadium where 96 Liverpool fans died, is but one of a series of tragedies to hit the city during the past 25 years.