Ask Aristotle Find candidates Or browse the map Archive search Sketch Now hear the word of the Lord - more or less Simon Hoggart Tuesday June 14, 2005 Once a month the Commons transforms itself. You can almost hear the organ playing devotional music in the background, and detect the faintest whiff of incense on the breeze. Instead of bellowing, MPs whisper to each other, handle their order papers as if they were prayer books, and clear their throats discreetly behind their hands. All we lack is the sound of full-throated hymns, but in the Church of England most people mumble rather than sing, so it would be hard to tell the difference. This transmogrification occurs when the house considers questions to the MP representing the church commissioners, currently, for a long time in the past, and no doubt for many Michaelmases to come, Sir Stu

more...