Not learning from the idiocy of scheduling women-only swimming sessions that debarred women from swimming with their children (and excluded all men) during peak weekend times, Clissold Leisure Centre has now been barring access to its pool to most of the community by reserving the pool to Muslim men on Sunday mornings.

I wish Hackney Council put the same effort into fairness and leadership as it does into target-hitting. It would not only look less ridiculous, but the tragic results of inhuman, bureaucratic single-mindedness might finally be avoided.