The Week January 10, 2015

In a scathing assessment of the state of the nation, the Church of England claimed that the Government had “left the poor behind” and “cast aside” entire regions, creating a divide between North and South. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York – Justin Welby and John Sentamu – attacked party leaders for selling the “lie” that economic growth alone could solve the country’s economic problems, and decried the effects of spending cuts. In a new book of essays, On Rock or Sand?, they describe inequality as “evil”, and warn that Britain is dominated by “rampant consumerism and individualism”. Dismissing the attack, David Cameron said that only a stronger economy could improve people’s lives, and that the coalition had done much to tackle poverty by creating 1.75 million jobs. The Church’s…

Europe remained in a state of high alert this week following the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris and the thwarting last Thursday of an apparent plot to massacre police officers in Belgium. Two suspects, who had recently returned from Syria, were shot dead by police in the town of Verviers, in the east of the country. French, German and Irish police also made a series of terror-related arrests (see page 7). With the security services warning that an attack on Britain was “highly likely”, ministers were accused of stoking Islamophobia by urging imams to do more to root out the “men of hate” who preach extremism. Eric Pickles, the minister for local government and communities, wrote to more than 1,000 imams last Friday asking them to explain to Muslims how…

“On the day another cartoonist victim was buried at Père Lachaise cemetery, the Pope came as near as dammit to suggesting that Charlie Hebdo had it coming,” said Polly Toynbee in The Guardian. Not long after the magazine published its post-massacre edition – with a front-page cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed holding a “Je suis Charlie” placard – Pope Francis declared that if someone “says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others.” How odd, said Toynbee, to hear the Pope using “the wife beater’s defence”. And, actually, you can insult the faith of others. Francis, like much of the Muslim world, seems to be proposing “a special, anti-Voltairean status of protection for religious ideas”.…

Verviers, Belgium Terror cell raided: Belgian police shot dead two jihadis, recently returned from Syria, in a ten-minute gun battle in the town of Verviers last week. One is thought to have been of Chechen origin, the other Moroccan. In a series of raids centred on Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, a working-class district of Brussels, police also arrested 12 other jihadis suspected of plotting a major terror attack. Kalashnikovs, police uniforms, explosives and fake IDs were among the items recovered. Intercepted text messages suggested they were “hours away” from committing a series of atrocities that would have been “worse than Paris”, said a police spokesmen. Proportionate to population, more foreign fighters go to Syria from Belgium (about 400) than from any other country in Europe. Troops are now being deployed to protect potential…

Hollywood, California Oscars lack diversity: The Oscar nominations were unveiled last week – and immediately prompted accusations of racism and sexism in The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Critics pointed to the fact that all 20 nominees in the acting categories were white, and that no female writers or directors had been nominated. In particular, they cited the case of Selma, about Martin Luther King Jr. It has been given a nod for Best Picture, but its director – Ava DuVernay, who is black and female – has been overlooked, as has its star, David Oyelowo. The Academy’s president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African American in the role, said it was making “strides” towards greater diversity in its membership, and that she hoped to see greater diversity…

Nicholson’s lonely old age After a lifetime of womanising, Jack Nicholson has finally ground to a halt. The 77-yearold actor – whose last serious relationship was with the Twin Peaks actress Lara Flynn Boyle, 33 years his junior – now lives alone in Hollywood. He spends his days playing golf, taking long naps and watching films with friends. “I have had everything a man could ask for, but no one could say I’m successful with affairs of the heart,” he told Closer magazine. “I would love that one last romance. But I’m not very realistic about it happening. What I can’t deny is my yearning.” Nicholson’s romantic history – he cheated constantly on his long-term girlfriend, Anjelica Huston, before leaving her for Rebecca Broussard, the mother of his son and…