Suffolk Coastal MP John Gummer won’t stand for re-election, he says, as he wants to concentrate on the campaign against climate change. That’s commendable. We need more people to campaign against climate change, but…

Remember how he got cross about humanists at the Conservative Party conference? In  a subsequent exchange of letters over his outburst, Mr Gummer was unapologetic, claiming that he didn’t hate anybody and that the story wasn’t true. However, as several reliable people had witnessed it, one can only assume he’d had a convenient memory lapse.

Is it too much to hope that at least some of the Suffolk candidates in next year’s general election are clued up about climate change and about humanism and secularism? We’ll be encouraging our members and supporters to contact their candidates and report on what they learn.