Peter Rhodes: So much for Charlie

OH yes, we were all Charlie, weren't we? Back in January, after the massacre in Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices, the enlightened, progressive, liberal-left world arose as one to proclaim "Je Suis Charlie," to march in defence of the sacred right to freedom of speech and expression. So precious was this right, we were told, that we would proclaim it even if it meant offending millions of Muslims. Five months later an elderly professor suggests, in a light-hearted after-dinner talk, that some women scientists can be a bit, well, girlie. And how does the enlightened, progressive, liberal-left world respond to Professor Tim Hunt's attempt at humour? By denouncing him as sexist and hounding him out of his job, that's how. The professional destruction of Nobel laureate Sir Tim has been carried out with a single-minded fanaticism and exultation that Islamic State would envy. The real message is that our enlightened, progressive, liberal-left society believes in freedom of expression – but only if it shares and endorses the views being expressed. If you dare to stray from the approved tramlines of political correctness, then God help you.

STILL on divine intervention, if you believed the sermon in Sunday's Morning Service (Radio 4), God may also have helped King John to accept Magna Carta. Even by theological standards, this is a bit of a long shot. Before and after Magna Carta, the Church was solemnly assuring monarchs that they were ordained by God. Today, the Church may claim it is leading the struggle towards a fairer society but 2,000 years of history tells another story.

ON the way back from Devon we stopped at Gloucester services on the M5, the new, trendy, wholefood farm-shop one built into the hillside. If Hobbits designed motorway services, this is how they would look. It's lovely but it doesn't come cheap. Having found a gluten-free parking place and used the sustainable loos, we avoided the free-range chickens at £11 but purchased a homespun bag full of artisan cheese, hand-crafted lentils and macrobiotic yoghurt and continued our journey, feeling rather superior and twenty quid lighter.

THERE are some jobs in journalism you really wouldn't want. Like being editor of the school magazine at Ockbrook School. This co-ed private school, between Nottingham and Derby, is where Eleanor Hawkins, the flasher on the Malaysian mountain, was educated and became head girl. So will her strip-off, conviction and jailing get full coverage in the "Who's Done What?" section of the next school mag? Or will this be another case when "Je Suis Charlie" applies only to the right sort of news?

INCIDENTALLY, Ockbrook's School website informs us that its "pastoral ethos" includes: "A growing sense of responsibility for one's own actions. Commitment to the well-being of others in the wider community. A mature sense of self-confidence and self-worth, with a disposition to humility rather than arrogance." And, of course, getting your jugs out for the lads.

THANKS for your many suggestions for a name for a group of jellyfish. Best by far was a party. I wish I'd thought of that.