en-uk Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:37:29 GMT Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. custserv@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:10:12 GMT Newspapers 144 21 http://www.timesonline.co.uk http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,116979,00.gif Libby Purves Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-11-01T09:24:14Z Prince Edward was right. Tactless, imprudent and media-blind, but basically right. This may be a genetic trait from his Dad; and if it is true that Gordon Brown is currently struggling to find a new spin-doctor, one must anxiously urge him to strike the Earl of Wessex off his wish-list. The royal foot is no stranger to its owner’s mouth. Libby Purves Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-11-02T01:07:49Z It feels absurdly awkward to defend the BBC in print. Absurd, because the BBC does many good things; awkward, because I have worked for it over 37 years and still do part-time. To avoid accusations of smarming, normally I either stay quiet, or sorrowfully point out Auntie’s failings — top-heavy overpaid management, obsession with “platforms” over content, timidity over telling pampered “talent” where it gets off. Whenever I do this, I see spasms of anguish on the noble brow of my controller, and feel his pain. The last time I was kind to the management in print was in 2005 over Jerry Springer — the Opera. Libby Purves: Analysis Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-10-22T12:20:53Z The welcoming of Anglican clergy into the Catholic Church highlights the differences, and difficulties, of approach Attack is the best form of defence. On the eve of another damning report on clerical abuse and cover-up in Ireland, that seems to be Pope Benedict’s tactic. His sudden invitation to Anglican defectors will certainly take the spotlight off a continuing child abuse scandal fed, for decades, by the masculine and intimidating structures of authority in the Catholic hierarchy. Words like “poaching” may seem harsh, but there is more than a whiff of power politics in this move. A “rush to Rome” would resolve Catholicism’s shortage of priests, win back some ancient church buildings annexed at the Reformation, and reduce Anglicanism to an anxious, liberal rump. Result! It is not, after all, so long since Catholics prayed weekly for “the conversion of England”. Libby Purves Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-10-18T09:28:23Z Sack the wife, sell the home! It’s a catchy slogan, and catching MPs on the raw is now a national pastime. Flayed, protesting, they wince at each fresh handful of salt. After the letters from Sir Thomas Legg even Frank Field, one of the “saints”, flinches at a low kick. The retrospective application of limits is, he protests, as if you had been driving at 25mph in a 30mph zone — and then got fined because they arbitrarily introduced a 20mph limit. Libby Purves - Video: Rhoda Buchanan and Sarah Bloch Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-10-19T11:25:23Z Today is a small milestone in media history. If you never travel through the capital city, you may not notice. Yet bear with me: this particular straw is blown by a wind that chills us all.