The Spectator’s Notes | 29 November 2012

There is excitement that a foreigner could have been made Governor of the Bank of England. But the truth is that Canadians (and Australians and New Zealanders) are not really foreigners. The common history and kinship are so strong that there is pre-existing trust. (Mark Carney, indeed, is married to an Englishwoman.) This is an unusual thing in the history of the world. You cannot imagine any non-Frenchman governing the Banque de France, or any non-German (except an Austrian?) running the Bundesbank, or a British citizen running the Fed. You cannot even imagine a US citizen being the Governor of the Bank of England. When times are hard — money troubles, war, terrorism — the ‘Old Empire’ links always prove their strength.

David Cameron wants the Church of England to ‘get with the programme’. When did Jesus ever follow such an injunction from the civil power? Would there be a religion in his name today if he had? The huge political pressure on the Church because its General Synod did not carry the vote for women bishops shows what will happen if gay marriage becomes law.