I went to a seminar organised by the Archbishop of Westminster on the Big Society.

Having not spent years in a seminary learning philosophy and theology, much of the discussion went over my head. Neo-Aristotelian thought is not my strong point, but I do believe in a free society.

Under the spreading branches of the vast, regulatory state that we live in, everything else starts to wither.

Even in the last thirty years, the march of the audit state has continued apace.

Professionals can do nothing without being checked and double checked.

So I do believe in letting head teachers run their schools, their admissions, staff recuruitment and curriculum as they wish.

I also believe that the all-doing regulatory state saps moisture from self help organisations and religious groups.

The soul and the spirit of the people is dried up, too.

In the garden of our Catholic Church was a tree which are children used to enjoy climbing on.

It has been chopped down.

‘Why?’ I asked.

Because it was sucking moisture from the ground that was needed by the allotment users.

The tree was beautiful and useful in itself, but in order for the small organisms state’s garden to flourish, the tomatoes and the garden beans. The tree of the state must be pruned, but sadly, pruning is often not enough.