The ability of a university degree to pave the way for higher earnings has not been eroded by the increase in student numbers, say researchers.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has compared the advantages in incomes of UK graduates from the mid-1980s with those from the mid-1990s.
Despite student numbers more than doubling in that time, the wage premium for graduates remained unchanged.
Researchers also found that the number of graduate jobs had expanded.
But they warn that the rising numbers of graduates could diminish their higher level of earnings in the future.
The research also found that the biggest factor reducing the real value of earnings for all types of employees - graduates and non-graduates - had been the lack of wage increases since the recession.
On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of teenagers will find out whether they have got the A-level grades they need for university places.
The IFS, a leading financial think-tank, has examined whether increasing numbers of university students have caused a decrease in the value of a degree.
The study compared two cohorts of graduates, born about a decade apart, and found that graduate earnings showed no sign of being diminished by the growth in student numbers.
"The fact that the dramatic increase in the number of graduates in the early 1990s did not have any discernible negative impact on graduates' wages relative to school-leavers is remarkable," said researcher Wenchao Jin.
The study examined the typical earnings of graduates born between 1965 and 1969, who were students in the 1980s when only 14% of that age group went into higher education.
Their earnings were compared with graduates born a decade later, who would have been students in the 1990s, and of whom 31% went to university.
Researchers found that despite the big increase in those obtaining a degree, the relative average earnings difference between graduates and those who left school after GCSEs did not shrink.
This durability of graduate earnings reflected changes in the economy.
For instance, more graduate-level jobs were created, as lower-skilled jobs disappeared.
The study suggests that the way firms were organised changed as an increasing proportion of their employees were better qualified, with less "hierarchical" and centralised management structures.
But the study warned that this "process cannot go on forever and there are now signs that it might be reaching a natural end".
"Further increases in the number of graduates could start to erode the graduate wage premium in the future.
"This does not, however, imply that getting a degree will not be worth it any more. It's just that the gain might be smaller in the future than it is now," the report's authors added.
However, the study did show a more immediate negative impact on earnings for all employees in the wake of the recession.
This wage stagnation affected both those with and without degrees and the IFS says that in real terms, hourly earnings for recent graduates fell by nearly 20% between 2008 and 2013.
According to the analysis, this means that the value of typical earnings in 2015 had fallen back to the levels of the mid-1990s, when the second cohort in the study were graduating.


The Greek parliament has passed a law allowing migrants arriving in the country to be returned to Turkey.

The legislation is essential for the implementation of an EU-Turkey deal aimed at easing the uncontrolled mass movement of people into Europe.
On Monday, Turkey is due to receive its first migrants returned from Greece.
But there are warnings of a lack of preparation on both sides, while aid agencies are concerned migrants may be mistreated in Turkey.
Greece had to amend its laws for the deal to be possible and the bill was passed by 169 members of the 300-seat parliament.
Last year, more than one million migrants and refugees arrived in the EU by boat from Turkey to Greece, and Athens has struggled to cope.
Tens of thousands have been stranded in Greece after northern counties closed their borders.
Under the EU-Turkey deal, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey from 4 April if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.
In return, Turkey will receive aid and political concessions.
Two days before the first migrants are due back here in Turkey there is little sign of any preparation.
A field near the western town of Dikili has reportedly been earmarked for a registration centre but it remains empty.
Residents here have called a protest on Saturday against planned refugee camps.
Local officials are trying to calm tempers by suggesting those sent back here would only stay temporarily in Dikili before being sent to other areas of Turkey.
Meanwhile, boats are still attempting to cross - 160 migrants were caught by the Turkish coastguard near Dikili on Friday. Many more actually reached the Greek island of Lesbos.
The UN has called on Turkey and Greece to ensure safeguards are in place before returns begin, warning of "serious gaps" on both sides.
A report from Amnesty International says Turkey has been illegally forcing thousands of refugees back to Syria.
"In their desperation to seal their borders, EU leaders have wilfully ignored the simplest of facts: Turkey is not a safe country for Syrian refugees and is getting less safe by the day," said John Dalhuisen of the group.
Turkey is yet to respond to the Amnesty report but has denied sending back any refugees against their will.
The country has taken in 2.7 million Syrian refugees since the civil war began five years ago. Many live in camps near the border between the two countries.
The Turkey-EU statement in full
Meanwhile on the Greek island of Chios migrants broke out of a detention centre in protest against their planned deportation under the EU-Turkey plan.
Eight people were hospitalised on Thursday in a brawl between migrants at the port of Piraeus near Athens, where thousands are living in dire conditions.
Most of the migrants there are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and for weeks they have slept in tents or blankets out in the open with poor sanitation and little food.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


A couple jailed for neglecting five of their children have been branded "inadequate, stupid, stubborn and reckless" by a judge.

Nine children lived in bedrooms that smelled of urine and animal faeces and mattresses were soiled, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
The pair from Gloucestershire were due to be sentenced last week but this was delayed after they took an overdose.
The mother was sentenced to two years nine months; the father for two years.
At an earlier hearing, the pair pleaded guilty to neglecting five children, between 2007 and 2012. The ages of the children ranged from a baby to a young teenager.
Charges relating to the other four will lie on file.
The children were reported as often being dirty and smelly and suffered badly with head lice infestations, which the mother told police she had treated with mayonnaise.
It was after the youngest child was admitted to hospital with severe nappy rash, which had left ulcers on the child's skin, that police arrested the couple.
When officers searched the house they found it in an unhygienic state.
Carpets and walls were filthy, rubbish and clothes were strewn everywhere and a plug socket was left hanging out of the wall.
In a child's bedroom, ivy had come in from outside and was growing across the wall.
Judge Tabor said of the couple: "They are not wicked and they did not deliberately inflict pain and suffering upon their children...
"In short the degree of neglect was so high and so prolonged that the margin between reckless neglect and deliberate cruelty narrows to a perceptible but very small margin."
Speaking to the BBC before sentencing the father said there had been "a range of failing on my behalf, on my wife's behalf", but also claimed "social services let us down in a big way"...
"I hope they [social services] learn a lot from this case and they don't let this happen again.
"[The children] are very upset they're away from their mother and father.... As a parent it's completely broken me," he added.
Roger Clayton, chairman of Gloucestershire Children Safeguarding Board, said the neglect the children suffered was "unacceptable".
He added: "I'm pleased that because action has been taken the children are now safe and doing well, and their parents have been successfully prosecuted."
A serious case review will now take place.
Det Insp Katy Miles from Gloucestershire Police said: "This was the most horrific case of child neglect the team has dealt with.
"It's hard to imagine how any parent could just sit back and let their children live in such squalor but that's what happened.
"When they were challenged they were obstructive and didn't understand what they had done wrong - now they must live with the consequences.
"There are no winners but I'm pleased to say that since the children have moved into a caring and loving environment they have shown encouraging signs of improvement and their future is bright again."


It was described as a "bittersweet moment" as Barack and Michelle Obama appeared on Tuesday for the final state dinner of the US president's time in office.

"We saved the best for last," Mr Obama said, as the couple welcomed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife Agnese Landini to the White House.
The event, attended by guests from the worlds of politics, finance and fashion, was one of the largest of Mr Obama's eight years as president.
It was Mrs Obama, however, who quickly became the focus of attention on social media after appearing in a rose gold Atelier Versace gown.
Her choice of dress was likely to have been a deliberate nod to her Italian friends and a celebration of the close relationship between the two nations.
The First Lady has a history of attending events garbed in outfits created by fashion designers with links to the US.
It has been a busy month for Mrs Obama, the first African-American First Lady who has had a strong political presence in her eight years at the White House.
Last week she delivered an emotional speech in New Hampshire condemning Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over his treatment of women.
The speech, in which she described how Mr Trump's behaviour had "shaken me to my core", resulted in calls for her to run for the presidency.
There were also messages of support from Twitter users describing Mrs Obama as the "baddest" First Lady in US history.
Mrs Obama has been the subject of "love letters" from prominent feminists, which have been published in The New York Times Style Magazine.
Gloria Steinem, a feminist activist who has been writing about women's rights for more than 40 years, penned a letter in which she said that Mrs Obama had changed history "in the most powerful way â€’ by example".
"We will never have a democracy until we have democratic families and a society without the invented categories of both race and gender," wrote Ms Steinem.
Award-winning author Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, who wrote the critically acclaimed novel Americanah and had her feminist TED talk featured on Beyonce's song Flawless, said Mrs Obama had transformed the perception of First Lady into something "warmly accessible".
"A person both normal and inspirational and a person many degrees of cool," wrote Ms Adichie, adding that she had become an American style icon for the way that she comfortably embraces fashion.
"No public figure better embodies that mantra of full female selfhood: Wear what you like," she wrote.
Also featured in the magazine are letters from Pulitzer Prize winner and US author Jon Meacham, and US actress and writer Rashida Jones.


Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller has won this year's Desmond Elliott Prize for first novels.

The story, about a father who keeps his daughter captive in the wilderness, under the pretence they are the last people alive on Earth, was described by judges as "shocking and subtle".
The shortlist also featured Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray.
Fuller was awarded a cheque for £10,000 along with the prize.
Louise Doughty, who chaired the judging panel, said: "Our Endless Numbered Days is both shocking and subtle, brilliant and beautiful, a poised and elegant work that recalls the early work of Ian McEwan in the delicacy of its prose and the way that this is combined with some very dark undertones."
Presenting the award, she called for UK publishers to offer support for debut novelists, far beyond their first books.
She said: "Ian Rankin and Hilary Mantel both wrote for years before making the big time with sales.
"Ian Rankin famously succeeded with his seventh novel - and Hilary Mantel wrote brilliant, strange and wonderful books time and time again before Wolf Hall, her 10th.
"I call on the publishers of all the books on our wonderful shortlist to support these writers not only with their sparkling debuts but with their fourth, fifth, sixth novels.
"Short-termism in publishing is not only devastating for the authors who don't get the support they deserve, it's bad for business."
Fuller originally studied sculpture at Winchester School of Art before running her own marketing company for 23 years.
She began writing fiction in her 40s and belongs to a club of authors who have published their debut books in their 40s or later, called The Prime Writers.
The prize is presented in the name of the late publisher and literary agent Desmond Elliott.
Last year's winner was Eimear McBride for A Girl is a Half-formed Thing.


Tesco customers are being short-changed by promotions which have expired but are still advertised on the shelves, a BBC investigation has found.

It revealed shoppers were overcharged at two-thirds of stores visited by an undercover reporter.
In 33 of 50 stores visited, multi-buy promotions were marked on the shelf, but the time-limited discounts were not applied at tills.
Tesco said it would double-check the accuracy of pricing at all its stores.
A reporter for BBC's Inside Out visited the stores over a three-month period.
He found multi-buy deals still on display days, weeks and - in some cases - months after the deductions were no longer being applied at the till.
Mistakes only applied to in-store offers, and not those online.
The investigation was triggered when discrepancies in receipts were discovered by a member of BBC staff.
On one occasion, the reporter told customer service staff at a store in Dudley offers for gingerbread and cat food had not gone through.
See the data here
The staff member was filmed replying: "The labels are actually out of date, that's what the problem is.
"One's nearly a month out of date, the other one's three weeks out of date."
At another store a member of staff blamed the expired offers on them being "short-staffed".
There is no real idea of the level of the problem [in the wider supermarket industry] because it is not recorded in enough detail to be searchable.
The underlying problem is that people don't complain because they don't realise. Very few people remember [the price] from the shelf to the till, so complaints are extremely low.
I would really hope that Tesco are out there on their own on this. I would hope that other stores have better systems to check and feed back and learn from their customer complaints.
In every case where the discrepancy was brought to light, Tesco staff honoured the offer.
But in the worst example, staff at a Tesco Express outlet in Birmingham repeatedly failed to remove labels showing produce as on offer when it no longer was.
It was still on display a month after the reporter first pointed it out.
Martin Fisher from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute said the mistakes could amount to breaking the law, which falls under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Tesco said it would be double checking the accuracy of the price labels at all its stores as a result of the BBC's investigation. The company runs more than 3,500 stores across the UK.
A spokesperson said: "We take great care to deliver clear and accurate price labels for our customers so they can make informed decisions on the products they buy.
"We are disappointed that errors occurred and will be working with the stores involved to reinforce our responsibilities to our customers."
*Additional reporting by Lisa Wright
The full investigation can be seen on BBC Inside Out in most English regions at 19:30 GMT on BBC One on Monday 13 February and for 30 days after on the BBC iPlayer


Even in death, a couple married for nearly 62 years were inseparable.

Don and Maxine Simpson from Bakersfield, California, died four hours apart on adjoining beds, holding hands during some of their final hours.
Melissa Sloan said her grandmother died first and when her body was removed from the room, her husband followed.
"All Don wanted was to be with his beautiful wife. He adored my grandmother, loved her to the end of the earth," she told KERO-TV.
He was 90 and she was 87, and they met at a bowling alley in Bakersfield in 1952, getting married in the same year.
When civil engineer Don worked for the US Army, the couple spent some time in Germany, where they adopted twin 18-month-old boys from an orphanage.
They returned to Bakersfield, where she worked as a nurse and he owned his own engineering firm.
They are survived by one son and five grandchildren.


A man jailed for grooming four vulnerable teenage girls for sex has been described as "vile and disgusting" by the mother of one of his victims.

Frank Collett, from Gloucester, admitted five charges of sexual activity with a child under 16 when he appeared at Gloucester Crown Court.
Collett, 24, groomed three girls aged 15 and a 13-year-old on social media.
He was jailed for four years and six months and placed on the sex offenders register for life.
The court was told Collett was fully aware of the age of his victims.
Judge Michael Cullum said he had preyed on the "vulnerability and immaturity" of the teenagers.
"Your last victim, troublingly, was just 13 and you knew that was even more wrong than the other.
"I have no doubt you were grooming her for further sexual activity," he added.
The mother of one of one victim, a girl described as having special needs, said Collett was "vile and disgusting".
She added that it had taken her daughter "a long time to realise it wasn't her fault".
Det Con Tess Nawaz said Collett would contact girls on social media and it was quickly clear the contact had a "sexual purpose".
She added that it had been a "very difficult time for the families".
Collett was also given a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, which prevents him from making any contact with anyone under the age of 16 or contacting the victims in the case.


A cargo plane has crashed on take-off near the international airport in South Sudan's capital Juba, killing at least 36 people.

Two people were pulled from the wreckage alive but one of them later died, leaving a young boy as the only survivor, the Red Cross said.
The Antonov An-12 plane was heading to Paloch, Upper Nile State, and crashed 800m (half a mile) from the runway.
In a statement, Ukraine-based Antonov said the plane had not been airworthy.
It said the plane, which was built in 1971, "was is no state to fly because it failed to undergo timely technical servicing... that should have included work on extending its resources and exploitation timeframe", AFP news agency reported.
South Sudan authorities warned that the death toll could rise as the debris was cleared.
The plane crashed into a farming community on an island on the White Nile River but so far all the victims recovered were from the aircraft, the Red Cross said.
Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said all of the plane's passengers were from South Sudan.
He said five of the six crew members were Armenian, while the sixth member was Russian. Armenia's foreign ministry has confirmed that five of its nationals were killed.
The head of the Civil Aviation at Juba airport said emergency officials had secured the site of the crash and were "in the stage of recovering bodies and black box [flight recorder]".
While the cause of the crash is still unclear, the presidential spokesman told a news conference that it might have been down to engine failure.
Witnesses said bodies, debris and cargo were strewn over a wide area along the river bank.
A man who saw the plane come down said he thought it might crash into a market area, but the pilot seemed to divert at the last minute.
A local farmer described the moment the plane started to go down, telling AFP: "The sound was so loud... the plane started descending and landed near my door.
"One of the tyres broke off and ran into the house - but thank God it did not injure anyone."
Cargo planes flying to remote parts of South Sudan often carry passengers too.
The plane's first flight was in 1971, the Aviation Safety Network reported. It was being operated by Allied Services Limited, a logistics company based in South Sudan, at the time of the crash.
However, the plane belonged to the Tajik company Asia Airways, Tajikistan's Transport Ministry told the Ozodagon news agency.


Three men have been jailed for 14 months over a series of robberies at ATM machines in the west of Scotland.

Felix Stoica, 19, Forin Geblescu, 18, and Piper Dumitri 18, admitted stealing a total of Â£1,100 by pushing people aside while they were taking out money.
The men were brought to Glasgow Sheriff Court after being sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court last year.
They are all currently serving time in a young offenders' institute as a result of committing a similar crime.
All three admitted a charge of assault and robbery at an HSBC bank on Argyle Street Glasgow by pushing a woman and stealing Â£200 on 1 April.
Stoica pled guilty to a further four charges of theft, Geblescu and Dumitri to another three charges of stealing cash on 21 and 22 April at machines in Port Glasgow, Stevenson, Newton Mearns and Biggar.
All three were caught on CCTV just before the incident in Newton Mearns.
Police Scotland circulated a UK-wide bulletin in an attempt to identify the men, and they were recognised by police in Manchester and the Wirral.
In August last year, Stoica was given a two-year sentence, Geblescu 16 months and Dumitri eight months for a similar offence in Merseyside.


The 600,000 people in Wales living with sensory loss are not having their basic healthcare needs met, according to a new report.

Deaf and blind people face a situation that is "still grim", according to charities Action on Hearing Loss Cymru, RNIB Cymru and Sense Cymru.
New standards were introduced by the Welsh government over a year ago aimed at ensuring equal access to healthcare.
But the report says little progress has been made.
Richard Williams, director of Action on Hearing Loss Cymru said the charities that authored the report are "really concerned" that people are leaving surgeries and hospitals unclear about what doctors have told them, what medication they need or whether operations have been successful.
New standards were brought in after a BBC Wales investigation in 2013 found health boards were breaching equality laws by not providing accessible services for the deaf and hard of hearing.
But 91 per cent of people surveyed for the report said they were not aware of improvements in the way healthcare providers communicate and share information with them.
Kay Coleman from Swansea began losing her hearing 15 years ago and said she finds it "incredibly difficult" to book a doctor's appointment.
An estimated 500,000 people are affected by hearing loss and 100,000 are living with sight loss in Wales.
In a statement the Welsh government said it is "committed to ensuring the standards are fully implemented" and it is working with relevant bodies "to establish how best to capture and record communication preferences for those with sensory loss to ensure their needs are fully met in every healthcare setting".


A fire which broke out at a building planned to house migrants in eastern Germany was greeted with cheers from some onlookers, police say.

The fire in the town of Bautzen in the early hours of Sunday morning destroyed the roof of a former hotel, which was being converted into a migrant shelter.
Police said some of the crowd tried to prevent firefighters from extinguishing the blaze, which destroyed the roof.
The premier of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, described them as "criminals".
Police suspect arson. The investigation includes detectives who normally deal with extremist crimes. No-one was hurt.
Only a few days ago, protesters in another Saxon town, Clausnitz, blocked the arrival of a bus taking migrants to accommodation.
They shouted, "We are the people", the slogan of the 1989 peaceful uprising which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.
The director of the Clausnitz migrant shelter is a member of the anti-immigrant Alternativ fuer Deutschland (AfD) party.
Police in Bautzen said many in the crowd watched the fire and commented with "unashamed delight". Two drunken men were arrested after they refused to leave the scene.
The converted hotel was supposed to house 300 migrants.
In a further sign of anti-migrant sentiment, police in the Brandenburg region are investigating the distribution of leaflets urging "absolute resistance" against "foreigner invasion".
The leaflets, put through letterboxes in the town of Nauen, are the suspected work of neo-Nazis. They also give instructions on making firebombs and using explosives.
On Saturday, police defended their response to events in Clausnitz after two videos surfaced online.
The first video showed 100 hostile demonstrators preventing a bus from off-loading migrants into their accommodation on Thursday.
A second appeared to show police roughly manhandling a boy from the bus into the building.
The regional police chief said there were too few police to keep the protesters away, and three of those inside the bus had provoked the crowd.
Germany received over a million asylum claims in 2015 and has been widely admired for opening its doors.
But with that have come increasing reports of anti-migrant incidents amid fears of a backlash, correspondents say.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


A 16-year-old Lesotho pupil has died after his face was sliced off by a street sign while on a school tour in the South African city of Durban.

The boy had been looking out of the bus window as it drove down a narrow street in the city centre, witnesses say.
Police cordoned off the scene and covered the body with a blanket before it was removed by a mortuary van.
The teenager, whose identity has not been released, was among a group of 106 pupils from Molapo High School.
The authorities are investigating the circumstances around the teenager's death.
The students and teachers, who are said to be severely traumatised,  are receiving counselling.
A security guard, who asked not to be identified, had been stationed outside a car dealership nearby.
"[The bus] first hit this sign; everybody was still inside... The boy then peeked his head out the window - he was sitting near the back - to see what was happening and before he knew it, he was struck by the sign on the second pole," he told the Durban Mercury.
"Everyone was crying, the teachers, the pupils; it was hectic. I wanted to help, but I couldn't. He was still breathing - blood still gushing - when I got to him. But there was absolutely nothing I could do for him," said another witness.
Live news updates from Africa


The Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev, says he will open talks with political parties after election results were confirmed.

Calling for a stable government to tackle the country's economic crisis, he said he hoped the new parliament would convene by the end of the month.
He will hold his first talks with parties on Friday.
Final results leave the centre-right Gerb party of ex-Prime Minister Boiko Borisov narrowly ahead with 30.5%.
Its Socialist rival, the BSP, won 26.6% of the vote.
Only two other parties passed the 4% threshold needed to enter parliament - the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) won 11.3% and the ultra-nationalist Ataka took 7.3%.
International observers say the vote was generally well run but add that scandals and fraud allegations have eroded trust in state institutions.
The BBC correspondent in Sofia, Nick Thorpe, says it will be hard for either main party to form a credible coalition.
By Nick ThorpeBBC News, Sofia
Boiko Borisov's centre-right Gerb party will get the first bite at forming a government, but appears to stand little chance. The Gerb number two, former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said Gerb could also attempt to form a minority government.
The Socialist BSP is already assembling potential allies behind its own, non-party candidate for prime minister, former Finance Minister (2005-2009) Plamen Oresherski. Mr Oresherski has called for a "broad coalition".
The third placed, mainly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) would be obvious allies for the BSP. Nationalist Ataka leader, Volen Siderov, said he will support "policies, not parties", making any Ataka support for a future majority or minority government dependent on the adoption of Ataka policies, like revoking the licence of the Czech power company CEZ.
But mutual hostility between DPS and Gerb, and between DPS and Ataka will make talks hard.
Bulgarian views: 'Election doomed'
Key tasks for the next government include negotiating EU funds for the next seven years, drafting the 2014 budget and trying to address popular anger over poor living conditions and high power prices.
Gerb resigned in February amid protests over living standards and corruption in what is the EU's poorest country.
"It is important to have a stable government," President Plevneliev told reporters.
"Bulgaria does not need new elections now. This will scare away investors."
While the final figures for the vote were given on Wednesday, the exact seat allocations in the 240-member parliament were still unclear.
The BSP could try to form a coalition with the MRF but it is likely it would still need the support of Ataka.
Analysts say Gerb would struggle to form any coalition despite its lead in the popular vote.
Another option would be to form a technocratic government, analyst Zhivko Gerogiev was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
"There is no other solution than a government of experts based on a programme with clear priorities," he said. "The alternative is new elections which risk to repeat the result of  Sunday's vote."


A former Catholic monk accused of child abuse at a Scottish school has appeared in court in Australia facing extradition.

Father Denis "Chrysostom" Alexander was one of several monks accused of abusing boys at the former Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in the Highlands.
He has always denied the allegations.
He appeared via a video link at the hearing in Sydney and was refused bail. The full extradition case is set to be heard in May.
In 2013, Father Alexander was confronted by BBC Scotland in Australia as part of a documentary into alleged abuse by monks at the school, which prompted a major police investigation.
The BBC's correspondent in Sydney, Phil Mercer, attended the latest court hearing.
He said: "His lawyer argued that he should be released given his age, a lack of mobility and various medical conditions.
"It was discussed in court that Father Alexander has diabetes and hypertension and a history of falls, and the lawyer said that the former priest was not a flight risk and that his incarceration was punitive.
"A lawyer for the British government said that being held in custody would not harm Father Alexander's health, and he also suggested that the former monk might be a flight risk, that he could be driven to a Benedictine monastery somewhere in Australia to evades the authority."
After hearing from both sides, the magistrate decided Father Alexander should remain in custody until the full extradition hearing in three months time.
The former monk's lawyer said he would fight extradition to Scotland.
Father Alexander was returned by the Catholic Church to Australia in 1979 after allegations of abuse were made by a Fort Augustus Abbey pupil, and continued working as a priest for a further 20 years or more.
He was stripped of his priestly faculties in 2013 after the BBC programme.


Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam's lawyer says he plans to take legal action against a French prosecutor for breach of confidentiality.

The Paris prosecutor told reporters that Abdeslam had admitted he wanted to blow himself up during the attacks on 13 November but then changed his mind.
The bombings and shootings, claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS), left 130 people dead and dozens injured.
Abdeslam was arrested in Belgium last week after four months on the run.
The Belgian authorities have charged him with terrorism offences. He has decided to fight extradition to France, which could take up to three months.
Abdeslam's Belgian lawyer, Sven Mary, says his client is co-operating with the authorities.
At a news conference in the French capital on Saturday, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, referring to Abdeslam's statement to Belgian police, said: "He wanted to blow himself up at the Stade de France and, I quote, backed out."
He added that people should treat with caution initial statements by the 26-year-old French national.
Mr Mary said he would take legal action against Mr Molins for breaching the confidentiality of the investigation.
He told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF that Mr Molins' comments at a news conference were "a violation... I cannot let it go unchallenged".
Meanwhile, France is sending more troops to its borders after the arrest of Abdeslam.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said they would join more than 5,000 police mobilised since the attacks.
Interpol has urged increased border security saying suspects may seek to flee after the arrest on Friday.
Abdeslam is believed to have fled shortly after the November attacks, returning to the Molenbeek district of Brussels.
He is being held at a high-security jail in Belgium.
Molenbeek raid: As it happened
Salah Abdeslam's luck runs out
Is Molenbeek a haven for Belgian jihadis?
Investigators hope Abdeslam, who was shot in the leg during his arrest, will reveal more information about the IS network behind the Paris attacks, its financing and plans.
They believe he helped with logistics, including renting rooms and driving suicide bombers to the Stade de France.
The subject of a massive manhunt, Salah Abdeslam was arrested about 500m (1,600ft) from his home in Molenbeek.  His brother, Brahim, was one of the Paris attackers who blew himself up.
Another man arrested at the same time as Salah Abdeslam on Friday, Monir Ahmed Alaaj, has also been charged with participation in terrorist murder and the activities of a terrorist group, the Belgian prosecutors say.
Friday's raid also saw three members of a family detained.
They include Abid Aberkan, described as a friend of  Abdeslam, who has been charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation and harbouring criminals.
Another family member, identified as Djemila M, has been charged with harbouring criminals, but is not in custody, the prosecutor's office says.
The raid came after Abdeslam's fingerprints were found in a flat in another Brussels district, Forest, raided on Tuesday.
Footage showed Abdeslam being bundled into a police car on Friday after a volley of gunfire. Alaaj was also injured during the arrests.
Prosecutors said Alaaj had travelled with Abdeslam to Germany last October, where his fingerprints were taken during an identity check.
A false Syrian passport in Alaaj's name and Belgian identity papers under an alias were found in a flat in Forest raided on Tuesday.
Along with the Stade de France, the Paris bombings and shootings targeted the Bataclan concert hall and bars and restaurants.
Officials have identified most of the people they believe to have carried out the assaults. French President Francois Hollande says more arrests may follow.
Most of the suspects either died during the attacks or were killed in subsequent police raids.


"He was a happy laddie, not depressed and the last type of person you would think would take their life.

"We're a very close family and I just wished he had come to me and said something."
The words of the mother of 17-year-old Daniel Perry, who took his own life after he was apparently blackmailed after befriending someone he thought was a girl of his age online.
In reality, it is thought he was "talking" to an extortion gang.
The apprentice mechanic was told on 15 July to deposit thousands of pounds in to an account or images or video of him would be shared with his family and friends or the public.
Hours later, he was dead.
It is a story that sends shivers down the spine of most parents.
In an interview with the Dunfermline Press, his mother said he had "not being doing anything wrong - just what anyone his age might do", but had been too "embarrassed and horrified" to tell anyone about what had happened.
Three months earlier, it is reported, the teenager had been bullied on the social networking site ask.fm and received messages telling him to kill himself.
Father and co-founder of the Cybersmile website, Dan Raisbeck, says the case is "extremely distressing" and shows the horrific consequences of "online hate".
"For a person to be manipulated in their home and bullied in their own loving home which is supposed to be where you feel safe... if that is undermined, what has a child got?" he said.
"This case is extremely distressing because of the short time span. There seemed to be no signs."
Psychologist Dr Lucy Maddox said for many young people, opening up to parents about something like cyber blackmail would be extremely difficult.
Not commenting on Daniel Perry's case in particular, she said: "Trying to talk to parents, especially if it's about sex, is very difficult, especially if you think of it as something you are ashamed of.
"Shame is a powerful driver not to tell someone something, so telling a parent that you have sent a naked picture of yourself... it's no wonder they don't tell. Sexual shame is a double whammy."
Dr Maddox said teenagers were prone to risky behaviour and were very influenced by their peer group and wanted to fit in, so might get drawn in to sending intimate images of themselves.
"It's very common for young people to encourage each other to send sexual pictures," she said.
"In the short term, the teenager gets a thrill from sending the picture and feeling grown up but they do not see the long-term consequences of that picture being passed on and then feeling very exposed.
For a parent, the thought of a child suffering in silence at the mouse-clicks of bullies while they are just feet away, unaware, is an upsetting idea.
But are there warning signs?
Hannah Smith, 14, who was found hanged at her home in Leicestershire on 2 August, was said to have been bullied online for months.
Following her death her father David found bullying posts on her ask.fm site - but he said there were "no signs Hannah would do this" beforehand.
Mr Raisbeck set up the Cybersmile charity after his 10-year-old son was bullied online while playing a game where competitors team up against each other.
He says there were warning signs in his case.
"There was a real stark change in his demeanour, played out in my living room.  I could see he was getting frustrated," he said.
"A lot of abuse and banter goes on in this game. His account was hacked. It got very nasty, out of control.
"The biggest sign for me was the intensity of the emotional response and distress. It's as good as being attacked verbally -  as if someone is screaming in your face. It's like they are there in the room with them, with dad, unaware, sitting next to them."
Mr Raisbeck got his son to talk to him about what was going on and told him he should not "bite back" if people attacked him online.
Dr Maddox, a member of the British Psychological Society, says children of the internet age face the threat of bullies reaching them wherever they are.
"Before someone could be bullied at school but could go home and have respite from it, now it can go on for 24 hours," she said.
Some ask why teenagers - or adults - do not log off permanently from sites where they are getting abused.
Dr Maddox says that although staying there might bring "very negative consequences" in the long-term, there could be short-term gains which keep them there.
"It's a hook that keeps people there. If they are getting loads of 'likes' for a picture or even one or two people spurring them on, it can be a powerful hook to stay in," she said.
"They make people feel connected and part of something and that sometimes flips, making them feel much more isolated and that the community is against them.
"That is such a powerful driver for people who feel very despairing."
Lucie Russell, campaigns director at the YoungMinds charity, agrees that young people might stay in an online place where they are getting bullied because they want interaction and attention.
"They feed on each other, young people feed off each other; they want attention," she said.
"Being online means they are getting attention and there is an audience of trillions."
According to a recent report from the NSPCC, almost one in five children who use social networking sites had bad experiences online last year, including bullying, unwanted sexual messages and cyber stalking.
Ms Russell says the media likes to present the situation as one of "goodies and baddies", but that the reality is often more complicated.
"The people doing it [bullying and trolling] can also be victims themselves," she said.
"We say trolls are the baddies but it's more nuanced than this."
Bronagh received support from the NSPCC's ChildLine after she was bullied online when she was 13 and says the person who bullied her went on to suffer too.
In an account she gave through the charity, she described how accepting a casual acquaintance as a contact on a social network led to a stream of attacks.
"He started saying really nasty things about me and about my family. The first time it happened I just logged off, but it kept happening.
"He'd say horrible things about how I looked. He called me fat and ugly... he said I should want to kill myself.
Bronagh said she did not talk to her family about the problem, even though she knew they would be supportive, because the boy was saying nasty things about them. She confided in her friends and one of them challenged the boy online.
"He blamed me. I logged back on and he showed me these red marks on his neck over the webcam, and said that he'd tried to hang himself because of what I'd said about him. Then I started to feel like it was all my fault.
"I brought it to an end by permanently blocking him and I found out he was creeping [another site] to find out about me, so I changed my settings.
"Now I just wish I'd done it sooner - that I'd cut him off straight away and not let him get to me."
Often excluded from the teenage world, what can parents do to help their children?
Lucie Russell from YoungMinds said: "We have no idea what they are doing in their rooms and how many things can you block?
"The answer is not to close these sites down but to help young people develop resilience and understanding of themselves and their needs, and to help them find ways of meeting those needs in a better way."
"The internet is our kids pavement," says Cybersmile co-founder Dan Raisbeck.
"They are learning their social dynamics on the internet and staying abreast of that as a parent is difficult.
"Engaging with a teenager about the colour of their socks can be impossible at times, so prying into their internet habits is going to be difficult, but parents need to engage more with them and support them.
He believes everyone has a responsibility to "get rid of online hate".
"Schools, authorities and the companies themselves have to do their bit and make sure that the message gets across so this behaviour is seen to be wrong and socially unacceptable," he said.
"We need to have a massive campaign showing the real emotional cost of losing someone through this and how it happens.
"I count myself quite lucky that I managed to engage with my kid before it went too far - and that's where parents need to be."


Iran has begun the trial of an American man of Iranian descent accused of being a CIA spy, according to local media.

In the hearing, prosecutors cited a "confession" from Amir Mirzai Hekmati aired on state TV earlier this month, the semi-official Fars news agency reports.
A lawyer for the 28-year-old rejected the allegations, Fars said.
The US say he has been falsely accused and have called for his release.
According to Fars, prosecutors said Mr Hekmati was charged with co-operating "with the hostile US government and the US espionage services of the CIA."
It cited what it said was a confession which Mr Hekmati had made on state TV earlier this month, in which Mr Hekmati admitted to trying to infiltrate Iran's intelligence services for the CIA.
Speaking in court, Mr Hekmati was reported as saying he had links to the CIA, but had never intended to harm Iran.
"I was deceived by the CIA... Although I was appointed to break into Iran's intelligence systems and act as a new source for the CIA, I had no intention of undermining the country," Fars quoted him as saying.
Iran says Mr Hekmati received training at US bases in Afghanistan and Iraq before being sent to Iran.
Mr Hekmati's family, who live in Arizona, say the charges against him are fabricated and that he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers.
His father, Ali Hekmati, said his son joined the US military in 2001 and served in the Marines, where he was an Arabic translator.
Iran's government has repeatedly accused the United States of carrying out covert intelligence operations in order to undermine it.
In May, Tehran claimed it had detained a network of 30 CIA operatives, saying they had been involved in espionage and sabotage.
Earlier this month, Iran indicted 15 people on charges of spying for America and Israel but gave few other details.


The 2015-16 FA Cup proper is already under way, with more action to be broadcast across the BBC this weekend.

Non-league Salford City, part-owned by five former Manchester United players, have already caused a huge upset by beating League Two Notts County 2-0.
Following six rounds of qualifying, 32 non-league clubs remain and they are two victories away from a potential meeting with a Premier League club.
You can follow all the action on BBC television, radio and online.
BBC coverage highlights over the weekend include:
The lowest-ranked team left in the competition are Didcot Town, who play in Southern Division One South & West - the eighth tier of English football. They host League Two side Exeter City, who lost at this stage last season to an eighth-tier team, Warrington.
Bradford City, who have enjoyed remarkable cup success in recent years and beat Chelsea on their way to reaching the quarter-finals last season, travel to National League side Aldershot Town.
Wigan, who won the cup in 2013, visit fellow League One side Bury, while 2008 winners Portsmouth host Macclesfield Town.
Media playback is not supported on this device
National League North side Worcester City will be hoping for a repeat of last season's heroics when they face League One outfit Sheffield United. At this stage of last year's competition, Worcester produced one of the season's biggest upsets as they won 2-1 at League One side Coventry City.
There are six all non-league ties, meaning there will be at least six teams from outside the Football League in the second-round draw.
The draw for the second round takes place on Monday, 9 November, with live coverage on BBC Two and the BBC Sport website from 19:00 GMT.
The show will come live from London-based Civil Service FC, who played in the first staging of the FA Cup in 1871.
Mark Chapman will be joined by former FA Cup winner Garth Crooks, who will help conduct the draw.
(15:00 GMT unless stated)
Saturday, 7 November
AFC Wimbledon v Forest Green Rovers
Altrincham v Barnsley
Accrington Stanley v York City
Barnet v Blackpool
Barwell v Welling
Burton Albion v Peterborough United
Bury v Wigan Athletic
Cambridge United v Basingstoke Town
Coventry City v Northampton Town
Crawley Town v Luton Town
Crewe Alexandra v Eastleigh
Dagenham & Redbridge v Morecambe
Doncaster Rovers v Stalybridge
Dover Athletic v Stourbridge
Grimsby Town v St Albans City
Hartlepool Unitedv Cheltenham Town
Leyton Orient v Staines Town
Mansfield Town v Oldham Athletic
Millwall v AFC Fylde
Northwich Victoria v Boreham Wood
Plymouth Argyle v Carlisle United
Portsmouth v Macclesfield Town
Rochdale AFC v Swindon Town
Scunthorpe United v Southend United
Sheffield United v Worcester City
Stevenage v Gillingham
Walsall v Fleetwood Town
Wealdstone v Colchester United
Sunday, 8 November
Didcot Town v Exeter City (12:00 GMT)
Aldershot Town v Bradford City (14:00 GMT)
Brackley Town v Newport County AFC (14:00 GMT)
Braintree Town v Oxford United (14:00 GMT)
Bristol Rovers v Chesham United (14:00 GMT)
Gainsborough Trinity v Shrewsbury Town (14:00 GMT)
FC Halifax v Wycombe Wanderers (14:00 GMT)
Maidstone United v Yeovil Town (14:00 GMT)
Whitehawk v Lincoln City (14:00 GMT)
Port Vale v Maidenhead United
Monday, 9 November
FC United of Manchester v Chesterfield (19:45 GMT)


A housing estate has been split in two by a fence because of a 1ft height difference in a road between two halves of the development.

The fence fiasco means a two-mile diversion for drivers to get down what should be one straight road in Dawlish.
Developers on each side of the dividing line are adamant they followed plans.
Planning authority Teignbridge District Council and roads authority Devon County Council are getting together in the New Year to try and sort it out.
More on the fence mix-up and other stories from Devon and Cornwall
A number of different developers have built on the estate with their own individual planning permissions.
Carhaix Way is meant to join two neighbouring developments but there is about 1ft difference in the height between them.
Carhaix Way resident Kaylea Ibbeson said one delivery driver left a note on the fence rather than drive all the way round to her house.
"He said he was unable to deliver the item," she said.
Strongvox and Cavanna, the two developers either side of the Carhaix Way divide, insisted they carried out the developments according to the planning permissions "to the letter".
Teignbridge, which controls the strip of land between the two developments, said in a statement that development around Carhaix Way was "carried out under separate planning permissions by separate developers".
It said each permission "required the road to be taken to the boundary with the overall intention to provide a footpath and road link between the two".
Agreements with Devon County Council show "a continuous road" and the district council said it was "working with the county council to achieve completion of the highway".


A Wrexham teacher who let children change national test results has been banned from teaching for five years.

Christopher Hanmer, who taught at Garth County Primary School at Trevor, near Llangollen, allowed Year 5 and 6 pupils to change math test answers in 2013.
He also submitted inflated reading results to the Welsh government, an Education Workforce Council hearing was told on Tuesday in Flintshire.
The panel said the unprofessional conduct was "cheating".
The actions came to light in 2014 when the school's acting head teacher compared results from 2014 and the higher marks for tests in 2013.
The EWC committee, sitting at Ewloe, heard Mr Hanmer allowed pupils to correct their own answers to the numeracy tests.
The panel also heard eight pupils sitting the national literacy tests had their marks increased - one pupil by ten points.
Mr Hanmer told the hearing he could not understand how the inflated literacy scores came to be presented to the Welsh government, which sets national reading and maths tests for all school pupils in Wales at key educational stages.
But the EWC panel's chairman, Martin Jones, said the teacher had inflated literacy scores to "reflect better on himself".
"This was cheating. It's a very bad example for a teacher to set. He gave the pupils an unfair advantage over others," he said.
"Integrity in the exam process is very important and once it is undermined it is very difficult to rebuild."
The teacher, who had already been suspended from his post, said he had been under great stress at the time because a family member had died and another was unwell, but he could not explain why he had falsified the results.
Mr Hanmer was told he would be able to appeal against being removed from the teaching register in five years' time.


Soft drinks makers admit more needs to be done to stop people discarding single-use plastic bottles.

Their UK trade body says it will work with government to reduce the number of bottles ending in the sea.
It follows research from Greenpeace suggesting the top six global firms sell plastic bottles weighing more than two million tonnes a year.
The biggest brand Coca-Cola is under fire for refusing to disclose how much plastic it produces.
A study estimated that more than five trillion plastic pieces weighing more than 250,000 tonnes were afloat at sea, and a recent paper showed that even marine organisms 10km deep had ingested plastic fragments.
Plastic oceans: What do we know?
Plastic bottle litter on beaches up 43%, conservationists say
Gavin Partington, from the British Soft Drinks Association, said:  “We should all be concerned about the problem of marine litter.
“All plastic bottles are 100% recyclable so it is important that consumers are encouraged to dispose of bottles responsibly.
“However, we recognise more needs to be done to increase recycling and reduce littering.”
The Greenpeace study found the six companies surveyed use a combined average of 6.6% recycled plastic in their bottles, and none have commitments to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bottles they use.
Louise Edge, from Greenpeace, said UK drinks makers have until recently been resisting efforts to reduce marine litter through bottle recycling schemes.
She said: “It’s clear that if we’re going to protect our oceans we need to end the age of throwaway plastic. These companies need to take drastic action now.”
After decades of concern, policy on plastic waste in the UK is starting to move. The  plastic bags charge has drastically reduced the purchase of throw-away bags, and plastic bottles are now a target.
Scotland has trialled a scheme in which people are rewarded at stores with cash back or discount vouchers when they return plastic bottles. Coca Cola reversed its previous opposition to the trials.
In Germany a 25-cent refundable charge is imposed on plastic bottles.
In some US states a similar charge on aluminium cans prompts children to scour the streets looking for discarded cans to claim the cash back.
The UK government is devising a new litter policy.
The issues aren't straightforward. Minister are keen not to alienate people who already put their used bottles into their own recycling bin. Under a deposit scheme they would be obliged to return bottles to a special recycling point to get their money back.
But it does seem that public support for a deposit scheme is growing.
Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin


What's the "best" grand prix of the year?

On the basis of "best" meaning a bit of everything, with no single aspect falling short, there is a strong case for it being Canada.
The track is no Suzuka or Spa, but the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve combines a spectacular location in one of North America's most vibrant, interesting cities with a layout that both challenges the drivers and never fails to provide drama.
The ambience is terrific, with grandstands packed full of enthusiastic fans, and a liveable city that contains something for everyone and seems to turn itself over to the race for four days.
And Montreal itself? A characterful blend of Europe and North America; grid pattern streets, high rises, brownstone townhouses fronted by stoops and a cobbled old town that dates right back to the early colonial times.
That's just for the evenings, though. The days are passed on the Ile Notre Dame, a man-made island built in the middle of the imposing St Lawrence Seaway for Expo '67, whose futuristic buildings still dot the 21st century parkland.
The track winds around the perimeter road, a challenging combination of long straights and chicanes, bounded by walls waiting to trap the unwary or wayward.
What appears nondescript at first glance is anything but; the combination weaves a special kind of magic, and rare is the Canadian Grand Prix without incident and drama.
The best grand prix of the year? Melbourne, Monaco, Spa, Monza, Singapore, Suzuka and lately Austin all have their appeal.
In the end, it comes down to personal choice. But Canada is right up there.
Andrew Benson, chief F1 writer
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Former Arsenal and England winger Rachel Yankey believes that women's football attendances and participation would be on par with the men's game if it had not effectively been banned by the Football Association for 50 years.

The women's game attracted crowds of more than 50,000 before the FA move in 1921.
To celebrate International Women's Day, the 37-year-old took part in a Q&A session in her role as BBC Sport's guest editor.
She discussed topics such as Manchester United's lack of a senior women's team and England's hopes for Euro 2017, along with the CBeebies show Footy Pups, which Yankey hosts in a bid to help encourage a new generation of sports stars.
BBC presenters Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Jess Creighton were among those to fire questions at the former winger.
What would women's football look like now if the FA had not banned it and what improvements would she like to see? (Clare Balding)
Wow, what a fantastic question! It's a tricky one to answer. No one really knows but I'd like to think the attendances and participation levels would be on a par with the men's game.
And to the follow up question, I would love to see the standard of play improve to make the game more attractive as a spectator sport. And of course the amount of coverage within the media could always be better.
Can England women win the 2019 World Cup? (Gabby Logan)
The Euros this year will be a massive challenge for the team but with two more years of experience, who knows what can happen. Hopefully with talent like [forward] Georgia Stanway from Manchester City coming through, the team will have a bright future!
What can England take away from their 1-0 defeat by Germany in the SheBelieves Cup? (Jess Creighton)
I don't think it's a bad result at all. I think if you take a look at where England are in preparation, obviously our league hasn't started yet. The French and German teams are in season so our players are naturally not as match fit as everyone else. Losing 1-0 to Germany… in years gone by I've been on the side losing by many more goals than one.
The real test now is in the Euros. It's a chance for [manager] Mark Sampson and the squad to gel as a team and for him to look at his players and make a difficult selection for the Euros.
The difficult thing now is the expectation and the players have to take that on their shoulders. That's the hard thing to handle and it's more than just going out on the field and playing. Why not dream big? We saw that with [Premier League champions] Leicester.
What do you think about a club like Manchester United which does not have a senior women's team? (Martinez Anibiko Koosa)
I imagine as a football club run as a business that somebody didn't see having a women's team as a financial business idea. Hopefully things will change because Manchester United are a huge club in world football.
If they were to get on board and have a women's first team that would really show a massive turnaround because they had one many years ago. The fact they have a pretty good youth department shows they are keen to progress young players.
How do we encourage more girls to play football from a young age? (Andrew Aspinall)
I am often asked this question, which is why I got involved with the Cbeebies show Footy Pups! On there, I coach a group of children as young as five or six to play football and encourage being active and healthy.
I think it's really important that both boys and girls see a female coach so it doesn't give the impression that football is just a boys game!
My two boys love watching you on CBeebies. Thank you for helping show them women are just as good as men. (Amanda Lombard)
Footy Pups has done really well. We've done two seasons and there are about 60 episodes out there. It's been brilliant. The idea came to me and as soon as I heard what they wanted to do I got involved.
Football is so much more than just kicking a ball. There are so many life skills and we can teach our kids from a really young age that anyone can play football.
What are your thoughts on more women being board members at the FA? (Mark Lygo)
It's positive. Boards need to be diverse and have more women on the board. There's 10 members. If three of them are women, who are the other seven? It can't be the same people who were there previously.
The whole thing needs to change and we need to look at getting more women involved and more ethnic minorities and different age groups. Football is a sport that goes out to everybody and covers so many different people. We all love the game so why not let it be represented by the people!
Should football be a mixed game and will it ever be? (Adam Jonathon Asa Scholes)
Do I want to see senior football as a mixed game? No. I just think the way we're built and made up, it's like having the fastest woman in the world against the fastest man in the world. The guy is going to win. They should play together and develop at a young age when the physical attributes are pretty much the same.
It depends on what you want to see. If you're going to watch a women's game to see high-tempo physical game you're not going to get that. You need to look at it and be open-minded in what the game is. It is still high-speed and physical but at the tempo of the women's game.
Opinion on future (hopefully) female managers managing male senior football teams? (Aaron Case)
Each individual will have different aspirations. I think outside influences will make it extremely difficult for a female to manage a male team. We've seen how the media and fans are looking at [Arsenal manager] Arsene Wenger and [former Leicester boss] Claudio Ranieri.
Imagine if that manager was a woman. People still sadly have the perception that it's a men's game and women don't understand football. People who pass the qualifications and get the right badges should be looked at.
Managing is managing people and managing players, you don't have to be a man to do that. If you've passed those courses you know your stuff anyway.
Chairmen and boards need to be open-minded and if that's the route they want to go down and they find a coach who is the best fit for their club and happens to be a woman, then go for it. But can I see it happening at this moment in time? No, not in England.
Comment on Arsenal's Champions League performance against Bayern Munich. (Zax Wander Hood)
I was on a train up to Manchester so I didn't see the game. I am an Arsenal fan and obviously you never want to see your team lose so I'm disappointed in that.
I think for me it is the bigger picture and we are all looking at Arsene Wenger and pointing the finger there, but as a player you have to look at the players and now I really want the players to stand up.
At the end of the season everyone will look at this season and decide what they want to do moving forward. At this moment in time the players need to stand up, especially with a massive game on Saturday [against Lincoln in the FA Cup].
A chance to get through to the FA Cup semis. The team needs to stick together and the players really need to show what they've got.
Do you think Arsenal Ladies could dominate English football again soon or are Chelsea and Man City too strong? (James Wyatt)
Obviously I'd love to see that happen but I don't think any one team will solely dominate in the way that Arsenal did.
My question for the legend: What law change or adaptation to the game do you think we need in the 21st century? (Kate Vogelsang)
Thanks for the legend comment! It would be difficult to pin down one thing but with the amount of stick referees get these days, something to help them make accurate and fair decisions would always help.
I have actually refereed grassroots football and it is extremely difficult. The pressure from the sidelines was overwhelming and unnecessary so anything to help out the officials would be brilliant. But then I guess fans lose their debate in the pub!


Plans to close an Oxfordshire hospital because of an increased risk of Legionnaires' disease have been shelved after pressure from campaigners.

Wantage Community Hospital was scheduled to shut early in summer after raised levels of legionella bacteria were detected in its hot water system.
An online petition to save the hospital was signed by more than 3,900 people.
Oxford Health NHS trust has now said its midwifery and physiotherapy services will remain open.
Campaigners have said the trust should also reverse plans to close the hospital's 12 bed in-patient service.
The trust has said repairs to the hospital's old, corroded pipework, needed to reduce the legionella risk, will not go ahead until after a consultation in the autumn.
A trust spokesperson said it had "listened to local concerns" and offered to continue running services where there is the least risk to patients.
But she added: "It remains necessary to close the 12-bed inpatient service to protect those people more exposed to legionella risk and who are typically the most vulnerable in the event of an outbreak.
"The inpatient service must be closed since it would be impossible to relocate these patients quickly if an emergency shutdown is required."
Emma Jones, who started the petition, said the hospital was "vital to local people".
The facility's long-term future will be decided after a public consultation later this year, which will also look at other NHS services across Oxfordshire.
Legionella bacteria are commonly found in water and if inhaled can lead to Legionnaires' disease, a potentially fatal type of pneumonia.


The holder of a winning lottery ticket has missed out on spending Christmas as a millionaire after they failed to claim the money in time.

Someone in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda won the £1m winning raffle prize in the Lottery draw on 28 May.
But the 180-day time limit to claim the winnings has now passed and the money has gone back in the pot.
Camelot's winners' advisor Andy Carter said the ticket-holder had missed out on a "substantial amount of money".
"To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis," he said.
Every week the Lotto Millionaire Raffle - an automatic code printed on Lottery tickets - creates two millionaires, one on Wednesday and one on Saturday.


Newport Gwent Dragons forward Ed Jackson is recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery for a neck injury.

The Dragons explained in a statement that Jackson suffered a 'non-rugby related injury on 8 April.'
"He has undergone a neck operation, which was a success, and the surgeons are satisfied with the results. Ed is making significant progress and is currently recovering," Dragons said.
Jackson, 28, signed a contract extension with the region in December.
However, he suffered a shoulder injury in February that required surgery.
Jackson has made 36 appearances for the Dragons since joining from Wasps in 2015.


Dan McFarland will sit by Gregor Townsend's side at Saturday's Pro 12 semi-final in Galway, the assistant and the head coach of Glasgow Warriors plonked in a box in a corrugated iron area of the Sportsground called the Clan Terrace.

This is where the most raucous Connacht fans hang out. Pat Lam and his coaching staff operate at the other side of the stadium, in a quiet room where they can plot in peace.
The visitors - and it's entirely deliberate - have to work amid a racket. "Oh, they make a lot of noise and they bang on the side of the box and shout and roar," says McFarland. "It's great fun."
McFarland should know because for the longest time he was part of this scene, as Connacht as any Englishman can possibly be.
He replaced Shade Munro in the Glasgow set-up in the summer, but for 15 years McFarland was a driving force at the home of Irish rugby's perennial underdog, a dog that this season has bitten back in a major way.
He was a Connacht prop from 2000 to 2006. He was only the second player in their history to play 100 times for the province. Then he was Connacht forwards coach, then assistant coach. He was on the coaching ticket with the Ireland Under-20s and the Emerging Ireland side. His son, Thomas, was born in Galway. Some of the best years of his life were spent out west.
"I love the people and the place," says McFarland. "When we went there a few weeks ago for the last match of the regular season, everybody was very welcoming. But I know when there's a lion waiting in the long grass for me. When we were shaking paws it was ready to bite me - and it did."
Connacht won that game 14-7. Now comes the semi-final in the same sell-out venue.
"It was hard losing. I came home and the weird thing about it was that in the first 24 hours afterwards I was more upset about losing that game than losing any other game in the year.
"We were still in the semi-final, but I was gutted. That feeling demonstrated to me how sucked into the Warriors environment I've been even though it's only been a year. It hurt that much. It was pleasing that it hurt so badly."
McFarland's history with Connacht goes deep, not just in terms of years but in terms of what happened in those years.
At the end of 2002, during his second season, rumours started circulating in Ireland that the IRFU were about to put Connacht to sleep, that they couldn't afford four teams any longer and that the western province were going to be shut down.
McFarland was the Connacht players' representative at the time. In January 2003, a newspaper report effectively brought confirmation that it was all over. That was the way it was done back then. Players found out their fate in a story in the Irish Independent, the source of which was a high-ranking IRFU official.
"I'd been at Richmond when they went bust a few years earlier and I'd learned a few lessons about that experience. I wanted to fight. Everybody stood up."
The public got engaged, the politicians came on board, there was a counter-attack on the IRFU from Connacht about the financial wastefulness in the union.
A story was leaked about an upcoming Six Nations trip to Italy where the IRFU had booked 83 rooms for three nights in one of the city's finest hotels. 'If they want to save money, how is that justifiable?' That was the message from the war cabinet in Connacht. And it put the blazers on the back foot.
"We had a march on the IRFU office in Dublin. I was at it, all the players were. We were told that we shouldn't be up the front when the IRFU came to the door to collect the petition because we'd end up on RTE, so we kinda stayed around the back of it.
"Everybody met in the pub beforehand and by the time the 2000 of us were standing outside Lansdowne Road there was little bit of anger there.
"I love the fact that I played for a team that people looked down on and that I went out and helped fight our corner. We had a group of people at Connacht who really felt they were being put-upon.
"People in the west of Ireland are characterised by resilience. Call it grit if you like, it's a funky word in sports psychology these days. When something comes at you, you always respond. If it's hard, you come back, you take a knock and you get back up again. It's very difficult to defeat an opponent that refuses to lie down."
Connacht's campaign earned a reprieve- and they have slowly built from there, McFarland at the heart of it until last summer when he swapped Galway for Glasgow.
He mentions a conversation he had with Glasgow's defence coach, Matt Taylor, recently. Taylor was talking about something he'd read about the San Antonio Spurs basketball team and a widely-used phrase they use called 'pounding the rock'.
"Think about this enormous rock and you have a sledgehammer and you're pounding away at it and after each blow you get little chips coming off the rock but the effect, visibly, is not huge. If you're willing to keep pounding then you're going to get a result, the more you pound the more stress you will cause the rock and at some point that rock just breaks.
"Pat Lam was pounding the rock at Connacht, so was Eric Elwood before him and Michael Bradley and Steph Nel, who was coach when I joined. They understood that if they kept doing what they really believed in then they were going to have success. Pounding the rock. You see the results today."
This is part of why so many people see a lot of Glasgow in Connacht, because Glasgow pounded the rock themselves for many years and eventually it broke on that memorable day in Belfast last year when they became Pro 12 champions.
McFarland worked with Connacht coach Pat Lam, for two happy years, until his move to Glasgow, a decision he made because he wanted to test himself in a whole new environment.
"It was an opportunity to come to a club that has followed a similar path to Connacht, from underdogs to developing a really good culture."
And now, in this semi-final, new club meets old back in his former home in Galway.  Was he surprised by Connacht's victory over Glasgow the last time? "No. I was involved in games with Connacht over the years when they demonstrated exactly the same stuff, the same physicality.
"We learned lessons from the Sportsground. Discipline is a big one. We've got to make sure we are controlled in what we are doing and that we don't give them a chance to get into positions where they can use their strengths. We can improve on the collision area. We need to negate them there.
"We're going up against a group of players who are used to digging deep and fighting. They have a history of that. So do we."
The weather, he says, will be mixed. A little bit dry, a little bit wet, a little bit of everything during the course of the afternoon. Unpredictable, in other words. A bit like the outcome. It's hard to think of Saturday without that image of a man pounding a rock springing to mind.
Hopefully it'll be a day for artistry. Unquestionably it'll be a day for physicality. Above all, perhaps, it'll be a day for mentality, a game between two teams that are so hard to break.
"It'll be great crack," says McFarland. Amid so much uncertainty, that's the one guarantee.


British number one Johanna Konta reached the third round of the Australian Open with an impressive win over China's Zheng Saisai in Melbourne.

Konta, ranked 36 places higher at 47 in the world, won 6-2 6-3 and will next face Czech Denisa Allertova, who beat German 30th seed Sabine Lisicki.
The Sydney-born Briton had never won a match in the main draw at the Australian Open before this year.
Britain's Andy Murray beat Australian Sam Groth later on Thursday.
The Eastbourne-based 24-year-old made a huge breakthrough at the US Open in September by reaching the fourth round, and she has continued that Grand Slam form at Melbourne Park.
Konta upset world number 10 Venus Williams in the opening round on Tuesday and backed up that fine win with a solid performance against Zheng.
The pair were meeting for the second time, with Konta having won in French Open qualifying two years ago, and she moved 3-1 ahead thanks to some aggressive returning.
Zheng pressed hard but could not convert a handful of break points and dropped serve once again as Konta took the first set in 37 minutes.
Some wayward volleying saw Konta fail to capitalise on two early chances in the second set, but the relentless pressure of her groundstrokes told two games later as she again broke for 3-1.
The world number 47 finally dropped serve, to love, while serving for the match at 5-1 before wrapping up victory after one hour and 22 minutes.
"There were definitely some nerves at the end," said Konta.
"I was very happy I was able to keep it together, there's so much tension out there. I'm just happy I was able to deal with it the best I could and come through."


A terminally-ill 17-year-old has become the first minor to be helped to die in Belgium since age restrictions on euthanasia requests were removed two years ago, officials say.

The head of the federal euthanasia commission said the teenager was "suffering unbearable physical pain".
Belgium is the only country that allows minors of any age to choose euthanasia.
They must have rational decision-making capacity and be in the final stages of a terminal illness.
The parents of the under-18 year olds must also give their consent.
Euthanasia commission head Wim Distelmans said the teenager was "nearly 18". He said doctors used "palliative sedation", which involves bringing patients into an induced coma, as part of the process,
Assisted dying around the world
Belgian Paralympian 'not ready' for euthanasia
"Fortunately there are very few children who are considered [for euthanasia] but that does not mean we should refuse them the right to a dignified death," he told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.
Mr Distelmans told Reuters news agency the case had been reported to his committee by a local doctor last week.
The case occurred in Flemish-speaking Belgium, reports RTBF (in French), the public broadcaster for Belgium's French-speaking community.
The Netherlands also allows euthanasia for minors, but they must be aged over 12 years old.
Belgium lifted the age restrictions in 2014. The law passed by parliament said the child would have to be terminally ill, face "unbearable physical suffering" and make repeated requests to die before euthanasia is considered.
Many people, including church leaders and some paediatricians, questioned whether children would be able to make such a difficult choice.
Senator Jean-Jacques De Gucht said he was proud the legislation had passed.
He said having the possibility to ask about euthanasia "makes a big difference to many people".
Only the Netherlands and Belgium permit euthanasia for patients under the age of 18.
In the Netherlands, a competent patient between the ages of 16 and 18 may request euthanasia or assisted suicide. The parent or guardian does not have a veto, but must be consulted. Competent patients aged between 12 and 16 may also qualify, but only if their parent or guardian consents.
In Belgium, a competent patient under the age of 18 may request euthanasia with parental consent. Additional scrutiny of the child's competence is required, and suffering based on a psychiatric disorder is excluded.
The rate of euthanasia in the Netherlands has remained fairly stable at 2.8% of all deaths (in 2010), according to Penney Lewis, Professor of Law at King's College London.
The most recent survey of doctors in the UK was in 2007-08. The rate of euthanasia was reported to be 0.21% of all deaths, and a similar rate has been reported in France (in 2009), even though euthanasia remains illegal in both countries.
In contrast, research carried out in Flanders, Belgium found the rate prior to legalisation was unclear, with separate surveys reporting rates of 0.3% of all deaths in the region (in 2001-02) and 1.1% (in 1998). The rate has risen steadily since legalisation in 2002 to 4.6% of all deaths in the most recent survey in 2013.
Euthanasia is an intervention undertaken with the intention of ending a life to relieve suffering, for example a lethal injection administered by a doctor
Assisted suicide is any act that intentionally helps another person kill themselves, for example by providing them with the means to do so, most commonly by prescribing a lethal medication
Assisted dying is usually used in the US and the UK to mean assisted suicide for the terminally ill only, as for example in the Assisted Dying Bills recently debated in the UK


Rescue teams have found a body in their search for missing jogger David Skeen, police have said.

The 51-year-old was last seen leaving his home in the Powys town of Talgarth for a run on Tuesday at 09:00 GMT.
Mountain rescue teams, firefighters, police and a drone searched for Mr Skeen, who had recently moved to the area from Bristol.
Dyfed-Powys Police said the body has not yet been formally identified.
"But family (of Mr Skeen) have been made aware of the development," a spokesman added.
Former colleagues of Mr Skeen, who had worked for South Western Ambulance Service, had volunteered to help Longtown Mountain Rescue Team search the Talgarth area on Saturday.


A policeman who was jailed for trying to arrest a senior judge in a Belfast court has been denied leave to appeal his case at the Supreme Court.

Thomas Anthony Carlin, 43, attempted to arrest Lord Justice Gillen last month while representing himself against his bank in a house repossession case.
On Monday, he failed to secure leave to challenge his conviction for contempt.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan ruled he had not established arguable legal grounds to appeal his case.
However, despite the setback, the serving Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer can still try a different route to have the case heard in the UK's highest court.
His lawyers confirmed they are now set to make a direct request to the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing.
Carlin had been representing himself in his legal battle with Santander bank over claims that he had failed to make mortgage payments on a property in County Antrim.
After he threatened to arrest the judge hearing his case, Lord Justice Gillen, the policeman was prosecuted for contempt by Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin.
Carlin was found guilty of the offence last week and is currently serving a three-month prison sentence.
At that stage, he was told that if he seeks to apologise after 28 days, the rest of his sentence would be set aside.
However, the case then took a new twist when it emerged that the policeman intended to challenge the conviction.
Carlin had previously turned down offers of help from professional lawyers, but Belfast-based law firm Madden and Finucane have been instructed to represent his interests.
His solicitor confirmed on Monday: "We are going to urgently petition the Supreme Court for permission to appeal Mr Carlin's conviction."


The SNP and Labour are set to run East Renfrewshire Council despite the Conservatives winning the most seats.

The two parties, along with a local independent councillor, have said they will work together to protect local services.
The Conservatives took seven seats to become the largest party at the recent elections.
However, the SNP with five councillors and Labour with four have excluded them from a deal to form an administration.
This is the latest example of a deal which cuts out the largest local group.
Labour are set to run North Lanarkshire Council although the SNP have more councillors.
The Conservatives have remained in opposition in South Ayrshire.
Meanwhile, the SNP have been frozen out in Aberdeen, Angus and Argyll and Bute.
New administrations are still to be agreed at a number of councils including West Lothian and Edinburgh.
Councillor Tony Buchanan, leader of the SNP group in East Renfrewshire, said:  "I am delighted that we have reached an agreement to build on the work and achievements of the last 10 years.
"East Renfrewshire is regularly quoted as being one of the best places to live in Scotland. The administration has a shared manifesto to continue to deliver our vision of a modern, ambitious council creating a fairer future for all."
Councillor Paul O'Kane, leader of the Labour Group, said:  "We have been working with the SNP group and Councillor Devlin for the last 10 years so in essence this is a continuation of that arrangement."
Glasgow - The SNP has formed a minority administration, ending almost 40 years of Labour dominance.
West Lothian - No deal agreed after Scottish Labour's ruling body told councillors not to enter a coalition with the Conservatives.
Aberdeen Council - Labour suspended nine councillors after they agreed a coalition deal with the Conservatives.
North Lanarkshire - Labour have formed a minority administration. There will be no formal coalition agreement with the Tories.
South Lanarkshire - Labour members abstained in a vote on forming an alliance with the Tories. The SNP took control of the council, with a minority administration. They are seven seats short of a majority but the other parties could agree to work together.
West Dunbartonshire Council - It will be an SNP-Independent administration. The 10 SNP councillors have joined with one of the two independents to form an administration.
Edinburgh - No agreement reached. A new administration will not now be formed for at least another week.
Fife Council - Joint leadership, with power shared equally between SNP and Labour.
Highland Council - 28 independents along with 10 Lib Dems and three Labour have formed an administration, keeping out the SNP and Tories.
Renfrewshire Council - will operate as an SNP minority administration.
Aberdeenshire Council - A coalition of Conservative, Liberal Democrats and independent councillors will run the council.
Scottish Borders - A new Conservative-independent coalition has taken formal control. It was previously an SNP/Lib Dem/independent administration.
Falkirk - SNP minority takes control of the council
North Ayrshire Council - Labour will continue to run the council despite a surge from the Scottish Conservatives in the local elections. The SNP have the same number of seats as Labour.
East Ayrshire Council - SNP minority administration
Angus Council - Conservatives, Independents and Liberal Democrats form administration.
North Lanarkshire - Labour have formed a minority administration. There will be no formal coalition agreement with the Tories.
Clackmannanshire - The first meeting of the new council could not agree an administration.
Moray Council - A meeting to agree its new administration was adjourned after just two minutes to allow more time for coalition talks. Councillors will meet again on Wednesday 24 May. Both the SNP and Conservative groups have been trying to reach agreement with independent members.
Dumfries and Galloway Council - Councillors will meet on Tuesday 23 May
South Ayrshire Council - A coalition of SNP, Labour and Independent councillors has been formed to run the council.
Dundee City Council - SNP to form administration with Independent.
Argyll and Bute Council - Independent, Lib Dem and Conservative coalition
East Lothian - Labour minority administration
Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland - All administrations dominated by independents.
Perth and Kinross - A Conservative-led coalition with the Lib Dems and Independents.


The coalition is facing a student loans repayment "timebomb" which could prove electorally "catastrophic" for the Liberal Democrats, Labour has warned.

The government has said this week about 45% of university graduates would not earn enough to repay loans.
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna told the BBC raising fees in England to £9,000 a year might end up costing taxpayers more than the old system.
But Treasury minister Danny Alexander said numbers "move around a lot".
Under the new system, students do not pay the fees upfront and only start repaying when they are earning at least £21,000 a year.
If the proportion of graduates not doing so reaches 48.6%, experts calculate that the government will lose more money than it gained by increasing fees in England to £9,000 a year.
Mr Umunna told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I think this is actually catastrophic, for the Liberal Democrats in particular, because having trebled tuition fees in the name of reducing the deficit and saving the exchequer money, you are are at best seeing it raise little money at all; at worst actually costing more.
"What this is is a student loan time bomb that is actually already exploding under the government."
The Liberal Democrat leadership backed the rise in fees, despite a general election manifesto commitment not to do so.
The party says this was necessary, as part of a coalition with the Conservatives, to help deal with the budget deficit left by the last Labour government and to provide a financially stable future for higher education.
Mr Alexander, himself a Liberal Democrat, told the Andrew Marr Show the figures were based on projections of what might happen to graduate incomes in 35 years' time, "so these numbers do move around a lot".
He also said: "The figure that we are most pleased with is that we are seeing more people from disadvantaged backgrounds going into higher education than ever before."
He said changes under the coalition had "enabled universities to be financially sustainable".
Universities minister David Willetts rejected calls for the £21,000 threshold to be lowered to increase the amount of money recouped, saying we "do not have to take those types of decisions".
"I think this is a sustainable system," he told Channel 4 News. "It is a far more sustainable system than any alternative.
"The people who want to return to the old system are saying we should write off 100% of the money and hand over grants to universities in the old way."
He added: "The exact forecasts will bounce around depending on exactly what people are forecasting for earnings 35 years out... I can envisage in the future. if graduate earnings pick up and rise more than forecast, that the amount we are going to collect back will improve."
Economics consultancy London Economics said the "tipping point" at which the costs of the new system would exceed those of the old one would be reached if 48.6% of all student loans were not repaid.
The estimates have been calculated to take account of the change to higher education funding in 2012-13, when universities in England were allowed almost to triple yearly fees to £9,000.
The rules are different elsewhere in the UK. Students from Northern Ireland who also study there will pay a maximum of £3,685 in 2014-15, while Scottish students pay no fees if they study in Scotland.
But students from Scotland or Northern Ireland can be charged up to £9,000 if they study elsewhere in the UK, and the same is true for students from elsewhere in the UK studying in Northern Ireland or Scotland.
Students in Wales pay a maximum of £3,685 towards their tuition, regardless of where they study in the UK, with the remainder of the fee covered by a grant funded by the Welsh government and local authorities.


The Beast's beastliness falls well short of savage these days, and generates only faux outrage in the stilted setting of green benches.

Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, long nicknamed "the Beast of Bolsover" has been chucked out of the chamber for calling the prime minister "Dodgy Dave".
While Mr Skinner's fury is doubtless genuine, he has become the establishment's licensed jester, the undignified part of the constitution.
His jibes are as nothing compared with the complaints of some right-wing Labour MPs about the way they have been treated by activists.
And they hardly raise the temperature in the same way as tweets praising Hitler.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, a man who wants to become president is calling his detractors, particularly if they are women, ugly, dogs, dummies and clowns, although not always at the same time.
Far more elegant, and I would guess far more upsetting to the target, are Petronella Wyatt's remarks on the Chancellor George Osborne, a man she says she likes: "His complexion is Eastern, with the fish-belly pallor of Vlad the Impaler. His eyes have a Mongolian slant and his voice the twang of a Gypsy's zither."
Despite Jeremy Corbyn's call for a new politics, has it actually become cruder and ruder than ever before? Maybe not.
Churchill called Ramsey MacDonald "the boneless wonder" and Stanley Baldwin "that great turnip".
According to a book I'm reading at the moment, James II was insulted to his face by one unhappy subject, who said he was an "ugly lean-jawed, hatchet faced, Popish dog".
His successor William of Orange fared little better - one gentleman of Holborn was fined for observing the new king was "a rogue and a son of a whore".
But politicians and public figures have to do better than mere abuse.
While I have only the vaguest idea what the 18th Century Prime Minister Lord North looked like, Horace Walpole's description makes me giggle.
"Two large prominent eyes that rolled about to no purpose (for he was utterly short-sighted) a wide mouth, thick lips and inflated visage, gave him the air of a blind trumpeter," Walpole said.
"A deep untunable voice which, instead of modulating, he enforced with unnecessary pomp, a total neglect of his person, and ignorance of every civil attention, disgusted all who judge by appearance."
Of course, the insults that weather well are those that lace venom with wit, and, better still, insight.
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's observations on Pitt the Younger may fall short of poetry but strike to the heart of that remote, odd and brilliant man.
Coleridge said: "He has patronised no science, he has raised no man of genius from obscurity; he counts no prime work of God among his friends. He has no attachment to female society, no fondness of children, no perception of beauty in natural scenery; but he is fond of convivial indulgences, of that stimulation which, keeping up the glow of self-importance and the sense of internal power, gives feelings without the mediation of ideas."
Perhaps, pithy is better. Told by Lord Sandwich he would die either on the gallows or of the pox, radical MP John Wilkes replied: "That depends, my Lord, whether I embrace your mistress or your principles."
Not only smart but short enough to fit on Twitter.
But there lies a pointer to what may have changed.
I am constitutionally against hand-wringing over changes wrought by technology, or accusations the world these days is going to hell in a handbasket, but social media has made an impact on the public mood.
First, the restrictions on Twitter make it ideal for recommending and linking to longer articles and blogs.
But they do not encourage reasoned debate, and instead summon the mood of the mob.
A passing thought is entombed in text, the bad-tempered growl over a news item transmogrified into a hail of arrows shot into a victim.
Serious harassment has become so commonplace, it has given rise to a new lexicon of offence, from "flaming" to "trolling".
Much less seriously, I can't be the only journalist who feels a bit disgruntled tweets attacking my work for bias or stupidity never delve in to identify the particular cause of offence.
Abuse has become the point, rather than simply the flashy thunderhead of an argument.
If you reply, it gets worse. Twitter exchanges, through their very brevity, get more heated. Email correspondence (or the even more old-fashioned sort) tends to lower the temperature and even lead to greater understanding.
Social media also encourages the herding together of like-minded people, who reinforce each other's values, refusing to listen to the other side.
The less they listen, the less they understand, the greater the reason to credit their opposition with base motives.
There is no point wondering if their values might be valid or their views worth considering - they are simply "sons of whores" or "hatchet-faced dogs.".
The mobs move through the virtual city, and all that can be clearly heard through the tumult are curses and imprecations.
Social media can be a friend of the instinctively clenched fist.
Reaction is instant - swifter than thought - with no time to mull, reflect and debate, and with no need to put a human face to a hated meme.
Such reactions stay largely in the virtual realm - but they are the enemy of the sort of politics that seeks resolutions and solutions to often complex problems.