Mark Andrews: Justice becomes a joke, Meghan's name change, and train company tackles sex inequality

From next month, sentencing judges will be advised to consider treating convicted criminals differently, depending on their ethnicity, sex, or sexual orientation.

So blatantly iniquitous is this latest guidance, that even Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood - hardly a pearl-clutching, reactionary culture warrior - was said to be 'incandescent' when she heard about it. She has written to the Sentencing Council, the body which drafted this ridiculous advice, asking them to withdraw it.  

This all begs the question of who are the people who come up with such perverse thinking. And looking at the list of the great and the good who sit on the Sentencing Council, there was one name that stood out: a Justice of the Peace, called Jo King. 

Yes, Jo King. You really must be.

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The other thing this episode highlights is the high-handed arrogance of the legal establishment in this country, and the impotence of successive governments in tackling it. 

In the hours after leaders on both sides of the house had voiced their displeasure at the obvious unfairness of this guidance, activist lawyers were going full-throttle, saying elected politicians had no business interfering in what was clearly a matter for the wig-and-robes fraternity.

While no right-minded person would want to adopt the American system where every legal ruling is viewed through a political prism, it is surely equally wrong for lawyers to demonstrate such contempt not only for public opinion, but also for the views of our elected leaders.

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Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person in the world who does not subscribe to Netflix, or one of these other streaming or satellite services. But aside from the fact that I've only got an ordinary television that receives programmes through an aerial, I've always viewed it as a bit of a waste of money.

At least I did until this week, when I discovered that the absence of Netflix in my life meant I won't be able to watch With Love, Meghan, a new lifestyle series which shows the Duchess of Markle making scented candles out of beeswax, arranging fresh fruit in a rainbow pattern, and generally wandering around barefoot while telling lesser beings how to turn food waste into compost.

In one scene, she says: “I think about flowers like an outfit. What story are you going to tell?” 

Now If that's not worth £12.99 a month, I don't know what is.

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And it also looks like I'm going to have to stop calling her the Duchess of Markle, given that she reportedly upbraids her 'dear friend Mindy' for addressing her by her maiden name.

"It's Sussex now," she says firmly but sweetly. "That's a beautiful thing." 

I've got to admit, I was a little surprised by this. Taking your husband's name doesn't sound very Montecito progressive, does it? Not only would I expect Meghan to insist on retaining her maiden name, I thought she would also be a nailed-on Mizzz. Were it not for the royal titles, obvs.

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Talking of progressive, Avanti West Coast has announced that a third of its new train-driver recruits are female.

Now, if you were hoping I would respond with a sexist, outdated gag, I'm very disappointed in you. It's International Women's Day of all days,. and I'm better than that. 

I have no problem whatsoever with lady train drivers, and would be more than happy to board a high-speed train driven by one. No concerns at all.

After all, it's not as if they're going to have to do any reverse parking, is it?