Two bizarre events mark this Friday. Firstly, the cabinet, which is overwhelmingly made up of practising Christians, is about to repeal the blasphemy law which makes it a crime to insult people’s religion.

And rightly so. It is an outmoded piece of legislation which blurs the separation between church and state.
And secondly, a group of judges have agreed among themselves to cut redundancy pay – in what must be the most politically-charged move by an allegedly neutral judiciary in years.
The formula which judges use to work out how much compensation workers who lose their jobs should get is an informal one.
It was worked out by judges to make sure that people are treated the same, no matter where their appeal against redundancy is heard.
And now, at a time when companies are feeling the squeeze and the issue of redundancy law is extremely sensitive, judges have decided to get involved and cut gold handshakes across the board. It is a move which will delight employers who say the current deals make it too expensive to sack people.
And ministers – who have given up trying to get cuts past an angry parliament – will be rubbing their hands with glee too. The civil court judges are now doing their dirty work for them.
Heads should roll for such a blatant political move. With proper redundancy packages of course.
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