BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE ISSUES APOLOGY TO POPE

GUARDIAN:

The Foreign Office was last night forced to issue a public apology after an official document suggested Britain should mark the Pope's visit this year by asking him to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage and launch a range of Benedict-branded condoms.

In a note, the official responsible for sending out the memo – a junior civil servant in his 20s – said: "Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The 'ideal visit' paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."

Foreign secretary David Miliband was said to be "appalled", and Britain's ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met Holy See officials to voice the government's regret.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful. The text was not cleared or shown to ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn."

THE MEMO CLEARLY REFLECTS THE OPINIONS OF THE LIFE-TIME CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE, A NEST OF LEFTISTS AND ANTI-SEMITES - MUCH LIKE OUR OWN STATE DEPARTMENT.