I first met Richard Harries at the BBC as we both waited to be called into the Today programme’s studio. Richard, the former bishop of Oxford and occasional New Statesman contributor, was there to deliver a “Thought for the Day”. He preferred to deliver these live, which struck me as terrifying. I was there to debate with Michael Gove, though, which would no doubt fill many of you with horror of another kind. As Richard and I chatted, he asked what I did. “I work for the New Statesman ,” I replied. “Tell me,” he said, now interested, “what do you think of the new editor?” Richard was kind enough to avoid showing too much disappointment in me that morning, and so began a conversation that carried off and on until I discovered earlier this week, with great sadness, that he recently passed away, aged 89. I am now even happier that in the short time I knew him, I took him up on his invitation to lunch in the House of Lords.…