Equality; Ponters parking: Ponters police; 'Gorgeous' George; Pedophilia; and Sewell on Hirst.

I guess it's logical but, nonetheless, I was surprised to read that churches are exempt from both US and UK equality legislation. After all, after 2,000 years of existence, no one could accuse the Catholic church of displaying any male-female equality whatsoever. Though the Anglicans are a bit better at it.

As I entered one of the larger squares in Pontevedra yesterday, I was surprised to see one side of it had been given over to (free!) parking spaces. Even better, some of them were available. This struck me as so counter to the trend of the last 10 years that I walked down to the end of the line and found a sign saying these were for 15 minutes only. Perhaps unintentionally, it was impossible to see this notice once you'd parked your car. So, I reversed out and drove on to the underground carpark. My suspicion that it was all a trap was endorsed by the sight of the police camera-car in a side street. Talk about easy pickings and low-hanging fruit.

And talking about the police . . . I took this foto of 4 of them while enjoying a tiffin in the main shopping street the other night. I couldn't work out whether they were there because they anticipated a lot of street crime or whether they could afford to stand and chat because crime is non-existent.

The latest issue of Private Eye points out that the egregious British MP, George Galloway, earns more from his appearances on Iranian TV than he does from his job as an MP. But the magazine fails to add that he also works for the Russian channel, RT. Along with his wife. In fact, he seems more than happy to work for any outfit that prides itself on criticising the country of his constituents.

Is pedophilia worse in Britain than anywhere else in the world? You'd certainly think so if you only read the tabloids. And today there's another report of unimaginable abuse, this time in the basement of a London council building 20 years ago. Could it be that investigations and prosecutions - and attendant publicity - have now reached a higher level in the UK than elsewhere? One almost hopes so.

Finally . . . I've always liked the irascible art critic, Brian Sewell. I like him even more after reading his comment that "To own a Damian Hirst is to tell the world that your bathroom taps are gilded and your Rolls-Royce is pink". You can see more of his excoriating views on this doyen of Brit Art here, in respect of Hirst's 2012 exhibition.