After their poor showing in the local elections, and losing one referendum after another on their proposal for directly elected mayors, the political parties in the Coalition Government are said to be suffering an identity crisis.

The Government seems to be reconsidering its proposals on taxing philanthropy, on taxing conservatories, on the type of jet it will order for aircraft carriers and perhaps on reform of the House of Lords and on reform of the law of marriage.

Media headlines label these as U-turns and offer encouragement to all who are perplexed by any government announcement, that it might be a false alarm.

The conclusion of the week was in The Guardian’s balanced blog by Michael White: “Noisy bishops aren’t always wrong”. High praise indeed for the Church from that quarter.

Three stories have been running all week: an outpouring of love and grief on the death of the singer Whitney Houston; a rising tide of indignation at a judge’s ruling that Bideford Council does not have the lawful authority to begin its meetings with prayers; and outrage at the behaviour of footballers, from Louis Suarez to Carlos Tevez.

From Amy Winehouse to Whitney Houston, the public on either side of the Atlantic warms to singers with distinctive voices and with ‘soul’. Any addiction problems are met, at least in death, with compassion.