A homily given at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

If you’re of the same vintage as me, you’ll be able to complete this famous cue-line from children’s TV. It has to be done loudly!

"It's Friday, it's five to five . . . It's Crackerjack!"

Yes Crackerjack is coming back next year, no doubt with its famous Double or Drop game, in which the contestants are given a prize for every right answer, and a cabbage for every wrong one – but have to hold the lot, without dropping any, or lose the lot instead.

It’s just like life really: prizes, cabbages, and the fear that it will all collapse in the end. In fact, it’s not a fear, it’s an inevitability: every person passes away, every political arrangement comes to an end; and in every generation it’s a massive balancing act to try and keep the show on the road. I’ll say nothing about Brexit.

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