The BBC has binned its planned Doctor Who Christmas special and put the show 'out to tender'. This is a face-saving TV industry term for saying you've kicked an ailing show into the longest of grass, but don't want to enrage its most rabid fans. Good luck with that, chaps. Essentially it translates as 'Somebody please, please take this nightmare off our hands'. It’s like one of those Facebook ads you see for a dog that needs rehousing because it barks all night, gnaws on toddlers, and has no control of its bowels, but is a total sweetie, honestly. If by some bizarre quirk of circumstance I found myself the unwilling owner of the tender, I'd put Doctor Who on ice for at least a decade. Much has been written in the past few days about what happened to poor old Doctor Who, how the thing was revived in glory and then retoxified in shame. As a former writer on Doctor Who, I was actually in the room when some of the mistakes were made. I offer the following suggestions – in a reflective but constructive spirit – for anybody barmy enough to take the thing on. (And yes, I broke many of these 'rules' myself, but I know better now.) ✍️ Gareth Roberts Article | spectator.com/article/twenty…

🚨 Michael Heseltine, “We must create a kind of United States of Europe. ⏰ This is an important historical reminder, Churchill’s vision after WW2 was that European nations had to find ways to bind themselves together so that nationalism, rivalry and the cycles of war that devastated the continent would not return. Heseltine is right, Brexit is a reversal of that post-war understanding: a retreat from collective European strength at a moment when the world is once again becoming more dangerous. “Project Fear has become Project Here.” The warnings about trade friction, reduced investment, barriers with our largest market and economic costs were dismissed as “scaremongering”, but those concerns are now reality pulling Britain into decline. On political accountability, Heseltine asks: where are the people who promised the benefits of Brexit now celebrating its success? If the promises had been fulfilled: lower migration, stronger growth, less bureaucracy, a more powerful Britain, one might expect the architects of the project to be loudly claiming victory. His final point: democracy is not a single frozen moment in 2016. The generations who will live longest with the consequences have the same democratic right to assess the outcome and decide their future direction. Whatever one’s view of Brexit, how can a medium-sized European country maintain prosperity, influence and security in a world increasingly shaped by continental-sized powers and geopolitical competition.

The rainbow belongs to God, not gays.