I accept responsibility for that which I was responsible for, and recognise that my actions must be consistent with this.¹

Hmm…

To which… I’ll see you one self-righteousness and raise you Matthew 23:16-22

1. The full text of Sir Fred Goodwin’s letter to Treasury minister Lord Myners about his pension arrangements. [↩]

Joe Queenan on the French:

They’re rude, they’re haughty, they talk too much about movies, they think they’re better than everyone else. That is, in fact, the way I try to live my life.

Yep. Seems like a life-philosophy to me!

Look what I spotted on the roads today…

Who’d've thunk it?

(Quick thought which I might want to return to)

When Gordon Brown inherited the role of Prime Minister he made it known that he wanted to rule by GOAT, a Government Of All The Talents:

Standing in Downing Street, Mr Brown confirmed he had accepted the Queen’s invitation to form a government. The new prime minister promised to lead a government of all the talents and spoke of the need for change within politics…. In a brief acceptance speech, Mr Brown repeated his unofficial leadership mantra to listen and learn to the British public. Mr Brown said: “And as prime minister I will continue to listen and learn from the British people. I have heard the need for change…. As the new prime minister prepared to finalise his first Cabinet, Mr Brown repeated the promise he would lead a government that “reaches out beyond narrow party interest”. [Politics.co.uk]

It swiftly broke down. The Prime Minister’s

…collection of businessmen, defence chiefs and sundry other non-politico types became known as the goats (an acronym of government of all the talents). Lord Jones felt less a goat than a guinea pig. It was a good idea to bring in outsiders and he found the Civil Service to be “honest, stuffed full of decent people who work hard”. Then he added: “Frankly the job could be done with half as many, it could be more productive, more efficient, it could deliver a lot more value for money for the taxpayer.” [Daily Telegraph]

Even so, is the problem the idea, its working out, or those involved in its working out? In other words, is GOAT in itself a good thing? If so, could it be applied to parish ministry? What would Ministry Of All The Talents (MOATT) look like?