If I ruled the world

Ann Widdecombe in Prospect:

All magazines with a young readership would have to use adverbs, adjectives and subordinate clauses in their stories so that the young would be exposed to the beauty rather than just the functionality of language. Latin would be compulsory from 11 till 16 and classical Greek once more widely available. All television companies would be obliged to put on at intervals of no less than one a month an excellent play which had no serious swearing, explicit sex, drunkenness or estuary English. Children’s television presenters would be banned from ending every simple sentence with an interrogative note.

…All those who prefer old-fashioned manners would wear a small badge which would indicate to men that they could safely open doors, give up seats on public transport and offer help with carrying bags without the risk of a feminist tirade. These days I get that sort of treatment but why should I have had to wait until I became a little old lady? Girls who were scantily clothed, drunk and incapable in city centres would be escorted home and curfewed for a month. That would save a lot of casual sex, false rape allegations and wasted time in A&E departments. Men and women who turned up in A&E drunk or drugged would be obliged to pay for their treatment.

More here.