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Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
JENNI MURRAY: Why no one would want to wear this T-shirt now... it's poisoned
Back in the day, it seemed anyone who was anyone wore them: those T-shirts which declared in large letters across the chest: 'This is what a feminist looks like.' The actor Benedict Cumberbatch showed his off, as did politicians Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman. I did, too, back in 2014, as I was the president of The Fawcett Society – an organisation that has long campaigned for greater equality between women and men. It was such a simple, yet powerful message, that both men and women of all political shades could be proud of being feminists. Just over a decade on, though, I doubt anyone would wear such a slogan. The word 'feminist' has been poisoned by the phenomenal power of trans activists. Indeed, I believe we've lived through the worst years ever for those feminists who, like me, have held fast to the belief that women's welfare must always be the priority. To my mind, the rot set in around 2012, when Maria Miller became Minister for Women and Equalities under the Tory/Lib Dem coalition. Since then, women have slid down the political agenda in favour of biological males who identify as women. I remember interviewing Miller on Woman's Hour and being shocked when she told me her primary concern was for the trans community who, she said, had told her they suffered terrible discrimination. I challenged her, pointing out that a Minister for Women should have more responsibility for women than for trans women. She ignored me. Those of us who refused to accept trans women were women suffered a great deal back then. And any woman who agreed with me was disparagingly dubbed 'TERF' – a trans exclusionary radical feminist. I received worse than just this label, though. An article on the issue that I wrote in The Sunday Times in 2017 saw me threatened with rape and murder on social media. Trans women, I said, deserved respect and consideration but must not see themselves as women with the right to be welcomed into single-sex spaces or be housed in women's prisons if they committed a crime. Harriet Harman wears a shirt reading 'this is what a feminist looks like' - also sported in the past by Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg Jenni Murray believes women have slid down the political agenda in favour of biological males who identify as women since Maria Miller (pictured_ became Minister for Women and Equalities in 2012 My perfectly reasonable views not only brought me those horrifying threats, but the BBC declared I must not be allowed to discuss the issue on Woman's Hour. And when my alma mater, Hull University, wanted to name a lecture theatre after me, the noisy trans activists tried to stop it. All this kind of intimidation is still happening – despite the ruling from the Supreme Court that the legal definition of a woman within the Equality Act should be based on biological sex. But now it appears that the latest clever, outspoken woman who is suffering for her feminism is Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, the Prime Minister's choice to lead the Equality and Human Rights Commission when Baroness Falkner ends her term in November. Mary-Ann was director of The Fawcett Society in the mid-2000s when I was appointed president. She went on to become director of the Women's Budget Group – a feminist think-tank that provides evidence for the benefits of a gender-equal economy. And as well as working on equality and human rights issues for three decades, she holds a PhD in equality law. You'd imagine that, as she appears to be perfectly qualified to lead the equality watchdog, the suggestion of her appointment would be met with praise. But enter the trans activist, and Mary-Ann's commitment to feminism is called into question. Should she head the watchdog, they ask, when she has been open about her concerns for women whose careers were damaged by what are known as 'gender-critical' views? As far back as 2015, she co-signed a letter to The Guardian decrying 'the worrying pattern of intimidation and silencing of individuals whose views are deemed transphobic'. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson (pictured) is Sir Keir Starmer's choice to lead the Equality and Human Rights Commission when Baroness Falkner ends her term in November She also donated to the legal fund of Allison Bailey, a barrister who took her chambers to court when they asked her to remove two 'gender-critical' tweets. Trans activists have clearly been successful at lobbying the Lords and Commons' equalities committees, as they challenged her decision to sign the letter to The Guardian. They had, they said, received hundreds of emails and letters from transgender people with concerns about her appointment. Mary-Ann defended her statements because, she said, she was opposed to 'attempts to close down debate'. She said her £25 donation to Allison Bailey's legal fund 'was very specifically because I was upset at seeing women being harassed or sacked from their jobs for peaceful expression of legally protected beliefs'. Those two committees who've been so influenced by the trans lobby have only an advisory role. It will be Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, who will make the final decision. Surely ministers will not allow the transgender rights groups to stop her getting the job? She must not be silenced. Mary-Ann is a woman who knows what needs to be said in support of women who've had to beg for their safe places. Biology trumps gender. The Supreme Court said so. It must be repeated over and over until it sinks in and we don't have to worry any more about being bullied for our beliefs. Hands off our Bayeux tapestry! The Bayeux tapestry should not be coming here 'on loan' from the French. It's not theirs. It's ours, exquisitely stitched by hard-working English women, telling the story of the Battle of Hastings with lots of humour. William the Conqueror features, obviously, but why has France held on to him as a truly French conquering hero? His ancestors were actually Viking invaders of Normandy. Maybe invasion runs in families... The Bayeux tapestry was exquisitely stitched, likely by hard-working English women, to recount the story of the Battle of Hastings Top of a recent list of all-time favourite toys are Lego and Rubik's Cubes. Not my favourites, though. I've stood on far too many Lego pieces in bare feet and the Cube defeated me completely. Sons one and two both did it in a flash. Children are the real victims Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd has received texts from his girls – 15 and 11 years old – begging for money as they're about to become homeless. He says he is releasing the disturbing messages to show the children are being involved in his ex-wife Alice Evans' 'false and manufactured claim' that she is in financial crisis as he had been paying child support. Frankly, I think both parents are a disgrace. Marriages end and there's grief, but it's up to the adults – not their poor children – to sort things out. Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd pictured with wife Bianca Wallace. He has two children with ex-wife Alice Evans Smutty Gregg needs to grow up I remember Gregg Wallace when he and his late pal Charlie Hicks, a keen advocate for the home-grown produce industry, came on Radio 4 to talk fruit and veg. There was lots of barrow-boy bonhomie, but nothing too offensive. Gregg's wrong to say, in the light of his disgrace, that working class guys no longer have a place in broadcasting. Of course they do – but only if they've grown up enough to know women tend not to like smut with their apples and pears.
Cosmopolitan
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Cosmopolitan
Labour promised women better, safer lives: a year on, we decode the small wins and biggest let downs
This time last year, there was a buzz in the air: a cautious sense of optimism that crept in as we all headed to our local polling stations to vote in the general election. A vibe shift suggested that after fourteen years of having a Conservative government, we were close to seeing changes for the better. Finally, we all said, there'll be an end to austerity and insane energy bills, no more money being wasted on pointless contracts for friends of the party (Michelle Mone's £200m PPE scandal, here's looking at you), a party in power who actually cares. How novel! On 5 July 2025, it was confirmed. Enter: Keir Starmer's Labour party to 10 Downing Street, primed to save the day. For women, there was also Labour's key promise that male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) would finally be on the agenda and taken seriously. In its 142-page manifesto, the party pledged to halve MVAWG within ten years by using 'every tool at its disposal', from fast-tracking rape cases through specialist courts to targeting the most horrific perpetrators of sexual offences by 'using tactics normally reserved for terrorists and organised crime'. Elsewhere, the manifesto made plain it would tackle stalking – a crime which, despite impacting roughly one in five women and often being a precursor to other offences, is not always taken seriously – and to address misogyny in schools, after a worrying uptick of concerning behaviour. More affordable childcare options and rooting out the misogyny within the police was also tabled. A year on, when I think back to last summer, and watching the live coverage of votes being tallied and feeling so stupidly hopeful, it all feels like a fever dream. It's hard to muster up that same feeling of optimism in many ways and now, whenever I see Keir Starmer or senior members of the Labour party pop up, the only thing that really comes to mind is the iconic meme of Tyra Banks shouting, 'We were all rooting for you, Tiffany!' to an America's Next Top Model contestant who, in her eyes, simply didn't deliver as expected. We're 365 days down, with a (most likely) further four years to go before another general election is called. So, have Labour actually made any progress when it comes to making the lives of women and girls better? Perhaps the data isn't as bad as it feels? We took a deep-dive, with the help of the Fawcett Society, into the key promises for women and girls… and the progress made (or lack thereof) one year on. Progress: The Fawcett Society has questioned how the metric of 'halving violence against women and girls within a decade' can actually be efficiently measured, but said it's encouraging to hear the Home Office is piloting specialists in 999 rooms in London, Manchester, West Midlands and South Yorkshire. Progress, albeit slow. In London, the Met Police has launched its V100 programme, using new data-driven methods to track down the worst 100 offenders who've committed violence against women and girls. The force claims it has more than doubled arrests and charges for rape and serious sexual offences, but these numbers are still abysmally low compared to the number of reports received. Given that the worrying stats around VAWG, including that 2 million women each year experience domestic abuse and three women are murdered a week, have not changed in decades, it's clear Labour has a lot more work to be doing in this space. Domestic abuse wasn't mentioned in the Spending Review at all and women's centres and support services are crying out for urgent funding. Progress: In recent years, 1,300 police officers (that we know of) have been arrested for domestic abuse. Refuge is calling for automatic suspension, but that hasn't happened yet. Ellie Butt, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Refuge, told Cosmopolitan UK, "Women's confidence in the justice system is currently at a crisis point and we continue to see abuse perpetrated by police officers themselves. "Following on from Refuge's 'Remove the Rot' campaign, which exposed the shocking magnitude of police forces' failure to tackle misogyny and police-perpetrated VAWG, Labour committed to the suspension of all officers accused of domestic abuse or sexual offences pending an investigation. The government must make good on this pledge as a matter of urgency. We keenly await further details of plans to improve police vetting." Progress: As well as Keir Starmer calling for Adolescence to be shown in schools, RHSE guidance is being updated to include lessons tackling misogyny – but again, it all leads back to money. There's little in terms of funding or a national push for change that has been announced, and it's no secret teachers are exiting the profession in droves. Progress: AI is being utilised across the board to demean, punish and scare women – for example 'nudify' apps, deepfake porn and e-pimps using AI to scan social media accounts to coerce young women into Only Fans are all big problems. Ones that the government is having a hard time holding the relevant platforms to account over. Labour inherited the Online Safety Bill (2023) – and both the party's manifesto and the Bill already are out of date. It fails to deal with the threat of AI against women head-on and legislators across the world (UK included) are struggling to keep up with the technological advancements and its misogynistic manifestations. It often feels like powerful social media companies can easily shirk responsibilities when it comes to regulating harmful content and behaviours, and that they're reluctant to properly address the issues. After all, shocking content equals better engagement for them which drives revenue. It's a whole mess. Elsewhere, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, violent choking scenes depicted in porn are set to be outlawed. Progress: For working mums, having more free childcare is a no-brainer and helps to keep women in work after starting a family, which would shrink the gender pay gap. So far, 300 primary schools have been granted funding (£150,000 per school) to expand by building a nursery on-site, which it's hoped will lead to 4,000 more available places by September 2025. It seems progress is being made (but again… slowly). But ask anyone with a kid in nursery about the astronomical fees – it costs £14,000 on average to send a child to nursery per year – which don't seem to be coming down, and it's clear there's still so much that needs to be done in this space. In fact, not all parents are even eligible for the 30 free hours of childcare that the government has offered: women who are in education/training, who work under 16 hours, and who have no recourse to public funds are still cut off from free childcare entirely – which has a serious impact on social mobility and economic growth. Working mums know the struggle of the juggle – and how hard it can be finding a job that allows them to drop their children to school and get to work on time. Expanding childcare offerings within a school setting, such as with breakfast clubs, could help reduce the 'motherhood penalty' which is a big factor in the gender pay gap. Progress: The Department of Education has begun a roll out of 750 'early adopter' schools, providing spaces for 180,000 children. Government data shows half of working parents will use this breakfast club provision to improve their working patterns. Seeing as the UK has the worst paternity leave in Europe (something that has hit headlines again this past week), levelling up the playing field is needed. There are links between post-partum depression and a lack of support post-birth for mothers, which could be alleviated if fathers had a better leave system. Progress: An 18-month review into parental leave has just begun, but it'll take a while for results to trickle in – and even longer for action and changes to be implemented. 'We have long called for a review of parental leave and it's great that the government is doing just that, but we really hope that this will move at pace otherwise women will continue to lose out,' Penny East, Fawcett Society's Chief Executive, told Cosmopolitan UK. 'Progress on equality doesn't just happen; it's won and we need to give credit where it's due, while also holding the government to account.' Progress: A new investigation into the worrying state of maternity care (half of all maternity units in England and Wales are deemed unsafe) has just been launched, with findings from the review set to be published in December 2025. While a 'men's health strategy' consultation launched in April 2025, the Conservative-inherited women's health strategy hasn't been given much public attention – Cosmopolitan UK reported earlier this year that experts have expressed concerns that women's health is actively being deprioritised. Progress: Discrimination at work is prevalent; 54,000 of us lose our jobs while on maternity leave every year and half of women have experienced sexual harassment at work – this cannot be allowed to continue. Oh, and the gender pay gap actually grew last year for the first time since 2013. While the Employment Rights Bill began its journey through Parliament within three months of Labour taking office, it's no silver bullet. Yes, the Bill promises greater support for women in work – for example providing protections from day one, and ensuring all employers need to provide an alternative role to women who are made redundant on maternity leave – but it still means employers can easily reject requests for flexible working patterns. The Labour manifesto also promised enforcement agencies would ensure employers adhere to the new workers' rights; however, the recent Spending Review in June 2025 did not set out any funding for this, making alarm bells ring in the women's sector. Without this, employers will continue to escape their legal duties to improve rights for workers. Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC's Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women's Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
Telegraph
17-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Colleagues could know your salary under Labour reforms
Employers could be forced to tell workers how much their colleagues earn under Labour reforms to boost salary transparency. Ministers are considering a raft of radical changes, including ordering firms to share salary levels, pay structures and criteria for progression with their staff. The move could also mean that employers have to inform interview candidates in advance how much a job will pay, and avoid asking them about their previous salaries. The Fawcett Society welcomed the move, but said more needed to be done, while headhunters Robert Walters UK&I said it could cause internal problems for employers. The review is being carried out by the Office for Equality and Opportunity, led by Bridget Phillipson, the Women and Equalities Minister, under plans to tackle pay discrimination and workplace harassment. The reforms include giving workers information on their pay level, and how it compares with colleagues in the same role or performing work of equal value. Firms would also be forced to provide them with information on pay, company salary structures and criteria outlining how they can progress. Job adverts could also have to outline a specific salary or range, and interview candidates would be informed in advance how much they will earn, with restrictions on asking them about their previous levels of pay. Any changes could be enforced by a new Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, established with the involvement of trade unions. The Government is already planning major changes to workers' rights, spearheaded by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister. The upcoming Employment Rights Bill will make it easier for staff to request flexible working, and hand them the right to take employers to tribunal for unfair dismissal from day one, which experts warned would flood courts with spurious claims. It comes after a survey revealed that companies are planning more lay-offs after the Government raised National Insurance contributions from 13.8pc to 15pc. Accountants S&W found that a third of businesses were planning to cut staff, and 20pc already had. Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, welcomed the potential new measures, and said the Government had to do more to close the gender pay gap. She said: 'Fawcett and our members have long called for employers to stop asking questions about salary history, and for employees to have a 'right to know' what those doing equivalent work in the same company are being paid. Evidence shows us these steps will make a significant difference to the gender pay gap. 'However, there is more to be done. We look forward to a time when all economic and societal unfairness is tackled.' Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, said: 'Too many young people are underpaid for doing the same job alongside older colleagues. You just have to look at national minimum wage rates for the under-22s to see how differently generations are treated in the workplace. 'Pay transparency can shine a light on intergenerational unfairness in the workplace.' However, Chris Eldridge, chief executive of headhunters Robert Walters UK&I, said disclosing salaries on job adverts could cause problems for employers. He said: 'Compensation for a role can vary considerably, influenced by factors such as talent competition, counteroffers and current rates of inflation. However, if current employees perceive discrepancies between advertised salaries for similar roles and their own pay, it could lead to significant internal dissatisfaction. 'This potential for internal conflict is a key reason why many employers currently avoid directly listing salaries on job listings.' A government spokesman said: 'This Government is pro-business and many businesses already go well beyond the requirements of the law in order to support pay equality. 'We are seeking to build the evidence base before deciding whether any changes in relation to pay transparency are necessary. 'By collecting evidence on how best to tackle pay disparities, we will be able to make sure that we maximise the benefits to both workers and employers.'
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Employers could be forced to tell colleagues what you earn under Labour reforms
Employers could be forced to tell workers how much their colleagues earn under Labour reforms to boost salary transparency. Ministers are considering a raft of radical changes, including ordering firms to share salary levels, pay structures and criteria for progression with their staff. The move could also mean that employers have to inform interview candidates in advance how much a job will pay and avoid asking them about their previous salaries. The Fawcett Society welcomed the move, but said more needed to be done, while headhunters Robert Walters UK&I said it could cause internal problems for employers. The review is being carried out by the Office for Equality and Opportunity, led by Women and Equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, under plans to tackle pay discrimination and workplace harassment. The reforms include giving workers information on their pay level and how it compares with colleagues in the same role or performing work of equal value. Firms would also be forced to provide them with information on pay, company salary structures and criteria outlining how they can progress. Job adverts could also have to outline a specific salary or range, and interview candidates would be informed in advance how much they will earn, with restrictions on asking them about their previous levels of pay. Any changes could be enforced by a new Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, established with the involvement of trade unions. The Government is already planning major changes to workers' rights, spearheaded by deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner. The upcoming Employment Rights Bill will make it easier for staff to request flexible working and hand them the right to take employers to tribunal for unfair dismissal from day one, which experts warned would flood courts with spurious claims. It comes after a survey revealed that companies are planning more layoffs after the Government hiked National Insurance contributions from 13.8pc to 15pc. Accountants S&W found that a third of businesses were planning to cut staff, and 20pc already had. Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, welcomed the potential new measures, and said the Government had to do more to close the gender pay gap. She said: 'Fawcett and our members have long called for employers to stop asking questions about salary history, and for employees to have a 'right to know' what those doing equivalent work in the same company are being paid. Evidence shows us these steps will make a significant difference to the gender pay gap. 'However, there is more to be done. We look forward to a time when all economic and societal unfairness is tackled.' Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, said: 'Too many young people are underpaid for doing the same job alongside older colleagues. You just have to look at national minimum wage rates for the under-22s to see how differently generations are treated in the workplace. 'Pay transparency can shine a light on intergenerational unfairness in the workplace.' However, Chris Eldridge, chief executive of headhunters Robert Walters UK&I, said disclosing salaries on job adverts could cause problems for employers. He said: 'Compensation for a role can vary considerably, influenced by factors such as talent competition, counteroffers and current rates of inflation. However, if current employees perceive discrepancies between advertised salaries for similar roles and their own pay, it could lead to significant internal dissatisfaction. 'This potential for internal conflict is a key reason why many employers currently avoid directly listing salaries on job listings.' A government spokesman said: 'This Government is pro-business and many businesses already go well beyond the requirements of the law in order to support pay equality. 'We are seeking to build the evidence base before deciding whether any changes in relation to pay transparency are necessary. 'By collecting evidence on how best to tackle pay disparities, we will be able to make sure that we maximise the benefits to both workers and employers.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
QUENTIN LETTS: Let Dad know you love him (even if he does blow his nose loudly, obsesses about stacking the dishwasher in a certain way, and wears awful holiday shorts)
This Father's Day, if you have given or received a card, what does it depict? A foaming tankard? A sports car, wheel barrow, tie, rugby ball? Last week I spotted one that simply featured a packet of cigarettes. Another displayed the contents of a toolbox. Good old Dad, always tinkering in his shed with his spanner and saw, fag dangling from his lips and a can of light ale on the worktop. In this era of policed non-stereotypes, when gender-specific language can land you in the soup, it's amazing the greetings-cards trade still gets away with such things. How come it hasn't been gnawed to a submissive stump by the feminist Fawcett Society and its bristling battalions? As a 62-year-old Englishman of fogeyish tendencies I am cautious about the more mercantile aspects of Father's Day. Are they not a touch American? Are restaurants' Father's Day menus, like all that shop tat, not a little opportunistic? Part of me still suspects as much. Yet in a West that has neutered much of its masculine culture I also see certain merits. Father's Day is both a celebration of family and a reminder that Dads are different from Mums. You do not have to be opposed to gay marriage (I am not) to know that paternal affection is different from motherly love. Ideally, we need both. Father's Day, for all its commercial cheesiness, is a recognition of that. What is the role of fathers? Apart from the whiff of tobacco and Old Spice aftershave, what do fathers evoke? If that toolbox card is any guide, Dads are meant to be DIY aces, erecting shelves and hanging doors. But that has always been my wife's department. I am hopelessly impractical. My duties at home are the cooking and vacuuming. Stereotypes are not infallible. Are fathers meant to be disciplinarians? In my childhood that task usually fell to my dynamic mother. My father, a schoolmaster who taught Latin and Greek, was a more distant figure, likely to be absorbed in some volume of Virgil or Homer, or to be found beetling into Cirencester in his Sinclair C5 electric tricycle. He wore two wristwatches and was a stinging critic of decimalisation. He was not as eccentric as the 2nd Baron Redesdale, who used hounds to hunt his daughters, the Mitford sisters, but my father was certainly unusual. Although he had suffered terrible sadness, I never saw him cry. One role of fathers, back then, was to demonstrate emotional continence. Maybe that was not altogether a bad thing. Fathers can still provide emotional counterbalance. Where mothers will cluck over their chicks, spitting on hankies to wipe clean the little ones' mouths, even the most modern dads tend to be more phlegmatic. Every family needs one parent who is comparatively laid-back. When children graze a knee, mothers say 'poor diddums' while fathers will more likely grunt 'that'll teach you not to run around the place so much'. Mark Twain said: 'When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.' Fathers like to offer practical advice. Think of Shakespeare's Polonius in Hamlet, giving a long list of dos and don'ts to his son Laertes before the boy leaves Elsinore for university. Dads have been round the block. They have experienced hangovers and prangs and career setbacks. They may also, in the distant past, have been dumped by girls they fancied. When the same things happen to their children they ache for them, even if they don't always say so. You need not put everything into words. I never told my father, precisely to his face, that I loved him. He has been dead 15 years and I still think, often, of his floppy sun hats, his stubborn decency and his dry, precise voice when he read the lesson in church. I think of his crabbed bowling action in cricket, his weakness for pink ice cream, of the times his straw hat was sent flying by the wind, and the way, when we were tiny, he would blow raspberries on our tummies. I think of his sloped handwriting – to stumble across it on an old letter is to have him suddenly back in the room. And I think of the way he would lean forward at the steering wheel when overtaking other vehicles. He did that to make the car go faster. Like many of his generation he was gripped by economy. When driving to Cheltenham, on the long descent down Cleeve Hill, he would switch off the engine to save petrol. Such a man lodges in your heart, even if you do not tell him so. Our son and two daughters, now grown-up, were always encouraged to make a fuss of my wife on Mothering Sunday but we never went in much for Father's Day. When they were little the children might dart into my study early on the day and furtively slip me a home-made card before scampering away with blurted good wishes. I used to love that, even if I pretended to be unfazed. Will they mark this Father's Day? I suspect they might send me an email. It won't matter if they forget. They are fine children, and I don't need a card to tell me that. But if others wish to celebrate Father's Day, that is tremendous. Let the country cherish Dads for their quietness, their quirks and thirsts, their hobbies, terrible clothes, noisy nose-blowings, competitive lawn-mowing and their obsession with stacking the dishwasher in a certain way. Even for those terrible shorts they wear on holiday. I am pretty sure my dear Papa knew what I felt about him, for we were similar, just as my son is like me. The relay baton of life passes from generation to generation. My father used to take me to watch Gloucestershire at the Cheltenham cricket festival, where his own father had taken him in the 1930s. Decades later I took both him and my son to the same festival. He pocketed that with a quiet sigh of satisfaction. He knew, all right. On the morning of the day he died, aged 82, I slipped into the hospital not long after dawn. The nurses had lowered his bed to the floor to stop him falling out of it. I sat on the floor and, although his eyes and mouth were shut, I talked a little. Then I recited the Nunc Dimittis, the biblical canticle that starts 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' That, perhaps, was as close as I ever came to saying, 'I love you, Daddy.' As I was about to leave, his left hand moved across his chest and gave his right shoulder a scratch. Or was he giving me an old, Roman salute of valediction? I have never been quite sure. Today I will make the same gesture in silent tribute to the man I was lucky enough to call my father.
