Ann Widdecombe

What’s your take on capital punishment, sexual abstinence, or giving up chocolate? Where is penance today? Does anyone inflict punishment on themself as an outward expression of repentance for wrongdoing? Who nowadays shows sorrow and regret for having done wrong? Are penance and penitence words from times gone by? What’s the place of P & P in a twenty-first century me-me-me society?

Ex-Prisons Minister, outspoken MP, star turn on Strictly, broadcaster, columnist, and bestselling author, Ann Widdecombe has some answers. Her latest book, Sackcloth and Ashes, looks at penance enforced by the State, penance as part of the sacrament of absolution, and its place in history, art, and literature.