MAIL COMMENT: A victory for Britain's quiet majority

Britain's acceptance of those from different racial, social or religious backgrounds has long been an attractive aspect of our national character.

But this culture of tolerance has come under pressure from politicians and the courts, who have put the often stridently expressed demands of minorities ahead of the rights of the majority.

No case has so clearly illustrated this as that of Lillian Ladele, the registrar whose Christian beliefs - beliefs incidentally that in the broader sense shaped the DNA of this country - led her to refuse to perform same-sex civil partnerships.

The Mail supports the right to undertake civil partnerships, but not to force others to participate in ceremonies with which they may profoundly disagree.

But Miss Ladele's bosses at Islington council, always ready to leap to the defence of the gay community, concluded that she was prejudiced, and insisted that she change her mind.

So she took them to an employment tribunal and - to the amazement of all those who have given up on the ability of our legal system to stand up for ordinary Britons - she won.

The tribunal concluded that Miss Ladele had been discriminated against, that the council had allowed the rights of homosexuals to trump her religious beliefs, and that it was utterly wrong.

The battle is far from over. Islington may appeal against the judgment. And we should never underestimate the sheer zeal of the commissars of political correctness to get their way. 

But this is still a landmark outcome, a victory not only for the values of the quiet majority, but for that long-lost concept - common sense in our courtrooms.

But we shouldn't be too cynical about our diminutive Communities Secretary. At least she recognises that the low turnouts in our elections - and particularly at local authority level - are a mark of a deep malaise in British democracy.

It is not because people are contented with their lot that they can't be bothered with the ballot box. As she rightly says - although not in so many words - millions have given up the habit of voting (and millions more have never acquired it) because they don't believe that voting will make a blind bit of difference to their everyday lives or to the way in which they are governed.

As she puts it herself: 'People feel they can't influence the way some issues are decided in their area. This needs to change.'

She's identified the problem all right.

Tell the truth on tax

No one begrudges the right, indeed the duty, of governments to raise money, but what taxpayers resent is being lied to.

When Gordon Brown told the Commons that 'the majority' of drivers would benefit from changes to car tax, it wasn't true. Only one in five will get smaller bills. Nearly half will be up to £245 a year worse off.

Nor is this the first time that Labour have been more economical with the truth than with our money.

At the time of the abolition of the ten pence tax rate, ministers insisted that there would be virtually no losers. In fact, it turned out five million of the poorest people in Britain would be worse off.

That forced a dramatic U-turn, and another one may be on the cards over car tax, but that is only part of the point.

We would respect our leaders a great deal more if they explained that they needed more money and exactly how they proposed to get it. Instead we've had ten years of taxation by stealth.

Last week the Tories proposed a new era of simpler taxes - a good idea, if it means they will be more honest as well. 

Gravy train derailed

David Cameron's draconion new expenses code has been met with horror by unnamed MEPs

There is something almost heroic about the way in which Britain's representatives in the European Parliament cling to a belief in their divine right to keep their snouts in the trough of public money.

But the good times on the gravy train may be drawing to a close, as David Cameron has announced a draconian new code, which will transform the way Tories in Brussels manage their expenses.

It's an excellent plan, and the squeals of horror from unnamed MEPs only serve to underline how necessary this change has become.

After several embarrassing scandals, Mr Cameron knows that he cannot allow a whiff of financial impropriety to taint his new model Tory party.

He's also putting blue water between his party and Labour - which is happy to stick with the sleazy staus quo.