Smash Hit

Non-believers fill church of green gods

Countries pay lip-service that an agreement in Copenhagen is necessary to 'save the planet', but it's now clear that no treaty will be agreed

• Dominic Lawson

MPs have lost their real purpose

Generally, we need fewer MPs, much less of their time and a great deal less of the expense of them. That is a cheering thought

• Minette Marrin

Memo to Cameron: no more promises

If he takes office Cameron will find he’s never had it so bad. He would be wise to keep his commitments to a minimum accordingly

• Martin Ivens

Columnists  

Fight for a good school is making criminals of parents

I am irritated by middle-class people making a virtue of sending their kids to state schools, as though they were brave pioneers

• India Knight

Dosh is the only thing that sticks to the likes of Teflon Terry

Do you ever wonder how people get jobs, I mean the really big jobs paying more in a year than you’ll earn in two decades?

• Rod Liddle

A wonder food to be taken with a pinch of salt

Hunger, poverty and nutritional problems in the developing world can’t be fixed by growing commodity crops. What is needed are better diets

• Charles Clover

Leading articles

Soldiering on is just not good enough

To leave Afghanistan precipitately would be a big blow for the West and a moral victory to Islamists. But to soldier on is not good enough

Victims of crime deserve better

It is scandalous that victims are being denied justice because of a lack of capacity in our prisons and courts

Final word

Are you depressed by constant interference from the EU in your everyday life? If yes, you’re clearly as fit as a Euro-fiddle

Faith  

Atheist Hirst to display paintings in church

The controversial artist will emulate the old masters by painting two 20ft-high religious works for display in St Paul’s

Reaction from UK mosques

Worshippers at one of the UK's biggest mosques said Muslims who serve are complicit in killing their ‘brothers and sisters’

Air turns blue round TV's new comic vicar

Strong language will feature in the BBC's after-the-watershed satire on the tribulations of an inner-city parish

Priests to perform second album in Liverpool

Trio will perform from their new album, Harmony, after a year of combining parish duties with global fame and fortune

Obituaries  

Staff-Sergeant Olaf Schmid

Brave bomb disposal specialist whose professionalism saved the lives of many British soldiers in Afghanistan

Tom Blumenau

Clothing entrepreneur whose dedication to the cause of human rights led him to serve, and raise funds for, Amnesty International

Angus Hornby

Dean of the Bristol University Faculty of Law whose scholarly credentials made him part of a newer breed of legal academic leaders

Ruth Duckworth

Innovative and influential potter who became a sculptor in clay with work that ranged from fine porcelain to sculptures and large murals

Join the Debate  

Thanks for the MBE, Ma'am, any sausages with that?

Butcher who keeps a biro behind his ear to take orders kept it there on Palace visit in case the Queen needed any meat

Muzzles won't do: dogs are weapons

They terrorise estates and their numbers are rocketing. We need a bold approach to the problem

Watchdog to overhaul Oxbridge admissions

Fresh review is aimed at the 16 elite universities to improve access for poorer students, government sources say

Couple's desperate message before pirate kidnap

Paul and Rachel Chandler posted a mysterious entry on their blog before setting off their boat’s distress beacon