Michael Blackburn: ‘It’s a pity that Spencer, who was by the end of the nineteenth century one of the most famous and successful of Victorian thinkers, should have been forgotten so quickly. It may be that his political message proved out of favour with the increasingly left wing tenor of intellectual life (despite being an agnostic and an anti-imperialist). His central message of individual liberty, individual responsibility, the need for a small state and advocacy of non-belligerent, laissez-faire capitalism is even more relevant today than 150 years ago.’

Michael Blackburn: ‘The females are not very good good at getting pregnant when they do indulge in the sex thing. That’s not a great survival mechanism. They don’t socialise, either, which hardly increases the chances of chatting up a prospective partner, even if it is just for a quickie. And the male doesn’t hang around once the evil deed is done. Presumably he reckons the equivalent of the panda welfare state can take care of his offspring while he blunders about in the bamboo. On his own.’

Michael Blackburn: In its third year of civil war, syria ‘has attracted jihadi terrorists from all over the world, produced two million refugees, and become an absolute crucible of barbarism remarkable even by Muslim standards. The consequences of Obama’s unscripted waffle about chemical weapons and red lines have revealed him for the incompetent he always was and weakened the USA internationally in ways not seen since Carter.’

Michael Blackburn: ‘According to Deveny all the right people — ie, women, gays, the non-white, etc — don’t have enough free speech, while all the wrong people — ie, whites, men (especially middle-aged ones, for some reason), the religious and people working in corporations — have too much. You know the script, either because you’re sick of hearing it for the thousandth time, or perhaps because you’re still delivering it yourself. I get the feeling that Deveney’s desire would not be to extend such freedom to everyone but just to flip the status quo.’

Michael Blackburn: ‘ A Muslim may claim it is his human right to be able to eat halal food. So be it. As long as my human right to reject halal is also respected. If food is labelled then everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim equally, knows what is on offer and can make their own choice. Labelling thus protects everyone. It’s a simple and obvious solution. Which is probably why it has not been done yet.’

Michael Blackburn: ‘The reality was, and still is, that the arts are overwhelmingly left wing—artists, administrators, publicists, the lot. As a result, even when we have a more conservative government in place, the major effects on the arts are cuts to funding—not to what kind of art is being funded. You know the stuff: you must celebrate non-heteronormative sexuality, you must celebrate diversity and multiculturalism, you must believe the collective is greater than the individual, you must criticise America for being evil, you must attack the patriarchy, etc.

Michael Blackburn: ‘There’s no evidence that this expensive vanity project will have any long-term economic benefits for the Midlands and the north. All data from similar schemes elsewhere suggest the only region to benefit will be the south-east. There is, unfortunately, plenty of evidence that it will destroy large chunks of green belt, require the demolition of historic buildings and archeological sites, lower property prices and require relocation of rare animal species.’

Michael Blackburn: ‘Jones, Penny, Mason, Harris and others may find the get-up-and-go attitude of young people lamentable. I think it’s admirable and bet everyone else does as well. I’m always impressed by the students I deal with; they all seem to have jobs and they never complain about it. They just get on with things. It’s also proof that to a large extent they are immune to the the propagandising of the progressives from their high ground in academia, the media and politics. That’s terrifying for the left but heartening for the rest of us.’