Having already pledged £100million ‘reparations’ to make amends for slavery with its ‘social impact’ fund, the Church of England has apparently found another way to tackle prejudice: pulling up ‘racist’ flowers.
asserted
Church → pledge → flowers
At St Mary’s in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, a hydrangea, close to the church porch, has been torn out – along with a plaque explaining that the plant, donated decades ago, was given in the memory of clergyman’s son Cecil Rhodes – founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
asserted
plant → tear → Rhodesia
The plaque made plain the hydrangea’s very definite link with the imperialist, stating that it came from Groote Schuur, ‘home of the late Cecil Rhodes, near Cape Town, South Africa’.
asserted
it → make → Town
Carlisle Diocese, which is unsure when the plaque ‘vanished’, insists that this ‘was not a decision about Rhodes’, but a consequence of the hydrangea becoming ‘progressively weaker’ and eventually dying last year.
asserted
hydrangea → vanish → Rhodes
But it has resisted the offer of a replacement hydrangea – made by a local who has a cutting from the original plant at Groote Schuur.
asserted
who → resist → Schuur
‘Any decision on new planting would be a matter for the parish,’ says the diocesan spokesman, adding that, ‘in over 70 years of living here, I have never heard the plaque mentioned or discussed’.
asserted
plaque → say → years
This disgusts acclaimed architectural historian John Martin Robinson, who lives nearby.
asserted
who → disgust → Robinson
The hydrangea wasn’t dead last year – it was thriving,’ he assures me.
asserted
he → thrive → me
‘The missing metal sign is of historic interest and covered by the historical listing of the church.
asserted
sign → miss → church
It needs to be found,’ he adds.
asserted
he → need → ?
The memorial to Cecil Rhodes at St Mary’s in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, which has vanished
‘As for pleading ignorance about the link to Rhodes, that makes matters worse.
asserted
matters → vanish → Rhodes
Culpable ignorance is a mortal sin, according to the teaching of the Christian Church.
uncertain
ignorance → accord → Church
This is a Grade I-listed building in a conservation area.
asserted
This → list → area
Yet the roof is leaking through lack of maintenance, the rectory is empty and the diocese want to sell it off.
asserted
diocese → leak → it
Strictly host Emma: I’m not into sequins
Strictly Come Dancing host Emma Willis has revealed she isn't the biggest fan of sequins
Sequins and Strictly Come Dancing usually go hand and hand, with former hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly both embracing the sparkle.
But new host Emma Willis is having none of it.
asserted
Willis → ’m → it
The presenter, 50, unleashed her inner rock chick at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards in London, wearing an Alexander McQueen tartan dress, chunky black boots and a long hair braid.
asserted
presenter → unleash → dress
‘I’ve never been into sequins,’ Emma tells me.
asserted
Emma → tell → me
‘I’ll leave that to the contestants on the show.’
asserted
I → leave → show
She says of her Strictly experience so far: ‘It’s really fun.
asserted
It → say → experience
‘It’s a beast of a show, it’s very long and live.
asserted
it → ’ → show
I love that, but it’s a real build-up.'
Former hellraisers compare notes…
Rock star Alice Cooper and actor Michael Douglas look compelled by their latest memoirs
Rocker Alice Cooper and Hollywood royalty Michael Douglas confess their sins in their new memoirs, Devil On My Shoulder and One Helluva Ride.
asserted
Cooper → love → Shoulder
And they looked shocked while peering into the contents of each other’s books after they bumped into each other in Manhattan.
asserted
they → look → Manhattan
Fatal Attraction star Douglas, 82, who details drug taking and affairs in the book, admits: ‘I found myself in situations where it looks like I’m the bad guy.’
asserted
I → detail → situations
The ‘Godfather of Shock Rock’ Cooper, 78, says of his memoir: ‘I’m... coming clean about the extent of my addictions, my blackout years, the creative process fuelled by alcohol, drugs and round-the-clock TV.’
asserted
I → say → clock
Royal chronicler who saw late Queen weep for Aberfan dies
He saw Queen Elizabeth cry in public and was the first person to conduct a television interview with Princess Anne, whose biographer he later became, knocking out the book on a portable typewriter his wife Diana bought him for £14.
asserted
wife → see → 14
But Brian Hoey, who has died aged 92, self-effacingly attributed his success to ‘being in the right place at the right time’.
asserted
who → die → time
After national service in the RAF, he became the first presenter of BBC Wales’s news programme, Wales Today, in 1962.
asserted
he → become → 1962
Four years later, he was one of the first reporters at Aberfan where a 111ft high coal tip had collapsed, engulfing a primary school.
asserted
tip → collapse → school
‘I could see a steady stream of miners coming off the early morning shift,’ recalled Hoey, in the Mail in 2024.
uncertain
Hoey → see → 2024
Without any instruction, they started picking through the wreckage.
asserted
they → start → wreckage
Of the 144 who died, 116 were children – a loss of innocent life, added Hoey, which reduced the Queen to tears when she visited days later.
asserted
she → die → tears
Blair Institute rakes in £137m
Does the taxpayer really need to fund Sir Tony Blair’s security?
asserted
taxpayer → rake → security
The former PM’s Tony Blair Institute for Global Change raked in an astonishing £137.4million last year.
asserted
Institute → rake → 137.4million
Newly published figures disclose that the not-for-profit organisation’s turnover was up £21million on 2024.
asserted
turnover → publish → 2024
That year, I reported that tech billionaire Larry Ellison had agreed to pour £213million into the institute from his own foundation.
asserted
Ellison → report → foundation
The institute has remained silent about Blair’s relationship with another US billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried.
asserted
institute → remain → billionaire
In 2022, Blair took to the stage alongside Bankman-Fried.
asserted
Blair → take → Fried
The next year, Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and money laundering.
asserted
Fried → convict → fraud
‘At least one person is thrilled to have the Duke of Sussex back in this country.
asserted
person → have → country
It’s a not-so-“secret” crush,’ comedienne Katherine Ryan says of her fondness for the King’s younger son, whom she has met.
asserted
she → ’ → whom
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
