But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.

People want the right to die at a time of their own choosing. Too many families have watched helplessly as a relative dies slowly, longing for death.

Inequality makes everyone unhappy, the poor most of all, and that is well within the remit of the state. More money gives less extra happiness the richer we get, yet we are addicted to earning and spending more every year.

This is indeed a clash of civilisations, not between Islam and Christendom but between reason and superstition.

The pens sharpen – Islamophobia! No such thing. Primitive Middle Eastern religions, and most others, are much the same – Islam, Christianity and Judaism all define themselves through disgust for women's bodies.

Thresholds of pain, indignity and incapacity are entirely personal.

But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.