Who is the most persecuted minority?

I am not one of those who believe that incessantly banging on about homosexuality does the cause of Christianity in this country any great favours. Indeed I am notorious among my circle of Christian friends for my oft-repeated view - not shared by all of them - that if the church got half as worked up about injustice as it does about gay sex then maybe it would have more credibility.

Nevertheless, in the context of what is essentially a political row about a piece of anti-discrimination legislation, the question that sticks in my mind is who is now the most persecuted minority - homosexuals, or Christians?

In my own profession at least, the answer is clear. To have had same-sex experiences is practically de rigeur in some sections of the media. To be a Christian, by contrast, is deeply unfashionable and tends to engender deep distrust on the part of colleagues and, occasionally, employers.

If I were to come out as gay, I doubt very much whether I would lose any readers on this blog or be denied any employment opportunities. I know for a fact that both of these things have happened to me as a result of my being a Christian.

Update: The debate on this now appears to have migrated to Caroline Hunt's blog.

A follower, not a leader

Disappointing though it is for those of us who have argued fairly consistently for something to be done about the environmental costs of air travel, I cannot say I am hugely surprised by Tony Blair's latest comments about the issue in an interview published today. My main criticism of him as a politician down the years has always been that he is essentially a follower, not a leader, and his refusal to seek to lead public opinion on the question of climate change is entirely typical of his cretinous style of political "leadership."

"You know, I'm still waiting for the first politician who's actually running for office who's going to come out and say it - and they're not," he says. Wrong. His own environment minister, who unlike him is actually running for office at the next election, recently called for curbs on shorthaul flights and branded Ryanair the "irresponsible face of capitalism."

Blair would like to think that his comments show himself to be in touch with the great mass of ordinary people. In actual fact they show him to be increasingly out of touch with what has become an emerging political consensus on the air travel issue.

Ten months ago, I described this on the blog as an issue mainstream politics was ignoring. To be fair, it is ignoring it no longer. But the fact that the Prime Minister seems determined to do so only serves to demonstrate once more the extent to which he has outlived his usefulness.

Cruddas leads the way

My ongoing, totally unscientific but possibly quite representative poll on Labour's deputy leadership shows Jon Cruddas leading the way over Hilary Benn with the rest moreorless nowhere, which I think by and large presents a fairly accurate picture of what is really going on.

I have gone with my readership and plumped for Cruddas in my latest podcast previewing the race which is now live. For the benefit of those who can't be bothered to listen or subscribe, the full text is available HERE.

The Seven Deadly Sins

I quite enjoyed this as blog questionnaires go. Apparently I have very few problems with lust, but a bit of an issue with pride...

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Low
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

England: where to from here?

I can't say I am hugely surprised by England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash, given the clear gulf in ability between the two teams and the mistakes made by Duncan Fletcher and Co in selection and preparation - but where do we go from here? The next Ashes series is two and a half years away, in the summer of 2009, so we have plenty of time to regroup and bring on new talent.

There's been much talk about Michael Vaughan coming back as captain, but I'm not convinced he is going to be worth his place in the side. By contrast, although Andrew Strauss has had a poor series on paper, he was the victim of a number of shoddy umpiring decisions and overall looked in good nick. He should get the captaincy in my view.

I have a feeling Paul Collingwood won't be around by 2009, so I think it's probably time to have an extended look at Ed Joyce and Owais Shah as middle-order options. Although he flattered to deceive in this series, several times reaching 50 but failing to go onto a century, Ian Bell will surely come good in the long run.

In the wicketkeeping area, I think we now have to move on from the endless Geraint Jones - Chris Read debate and give an oportunity to James Foster or Steven Davies, both good wicketkeepers who can bat.

The main changes, though, will come in the bowling area. Steve Harmison looked a shadow of his former self in this series and has already retired from one-day cricket at the age of 28. I have a hunch he will have retired from all cricket by the time he reaches 30.

Matthew Hoggard bowled manfully in this series but may be over the hill by 2009. I think our main fast-bowling options by then will be Stuart Broad and Sajid Mahmood, with young spinner Adil Rashid forming a potentially lethal slow-bowling partnership with Monty Panesar.

My XI for 2009: Strauss (Captain), Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Joyce, Flintoff, Davies, Broad, Mahmood, Panesar, Rashid.

Reid: Disarmingly honest, or devilishly clever?

So what exactly is John Reid up to with his big speech today highlighting the need for his party to hold fast to its current political direction and demonstrate to the public that there is more to New Labour than Tony Blair.

On one level, it could be seen as almost an endorsement of Gordon Brown. He says that "personal attacks" on the Chancellor by the Tories will "rebound" and makes clear his view that Brown's achievements "tower above anything anyone in the Tory Party has ever aspired to or could ever aspire to."

If you take this comment at face value, he appears to be saying not only that Gordon is New Labour to the core, but that attempts by the Conservatives to portray him otherwise are doomed to failure.

On another level, though, the speech can clearly be read as a devilishly clever piece of duplicity, that in appearing to praise Brown he is really warning him that he will face a rival leadership bid if he so much as even thinks of lurching a millimetre to the left.

This is certainly how Brownite MP George Mudie, a former Deputy Chief Whip, has interpreted it. He said today: "I think it's an early attempt to put a marker down to get some of the Gordon Brown supporters to say 'we need a change of direction' so that he can say 'this is disloyalty to the leader and, therefore, I shall throw my hat into the ring or we shall find someone to do so'."

Mudie, who led the unsuccessful rebellion against university tuition fees in 2003, is a disappointed and disillusioned man, and some of what he says should be treated with a pinch of salt, but if this is the level of paranoia in the Brownite camp, it doesn't augur well for a smooth leadership transition.

If the Brownites genuinely believe Dr Reid is out to get their man, they should know better than to rise to his bait by putting the worst possible construction on everything.

Far better, surely, to simply throw the ball back into Reid's court by agreeing with everything he says and welcoming his very generous comments about the Chancellor's record?