It wasn’t all bad

French officials have confirmed that the Bayeux Tapestry is to be returned to England for the first time since it was made – possibly by nuns in Kent – some 1,000 years ago. The 230ft-long tapestry, which tells the story of William of Normandy’s invasion of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is on permanent display at a museum in Bayeux. A loan was mooted in January, but there had been fears that the tapestry might be too fragile to move. Now a date has been set for 2022.

After a battle by its owner, a talented mule that was banned from competing against horses in official dressage events has finally been allowed to participate. Christie Mclean had been told her mule, Wallace the Great, could not become a member of British Dressage, even though the pair had impressed judges in several unaffiliated competitions. But the official body overturned its ban after a public outcry, saying it was pleased to welcome 11-year-old Wallace as part of its commitment to “inclusion and diversity in dressage”.

A record of two centuries’ worth of parliamentary debate has been made freely available online. The five-billion-word Hansard transcript of MPS’ contributions to the Commons (verbatim with only repetitions and clear mistakes removed) has been digitised dating back to 1803. David Lloyd George’s defence of his People’s Budget in 1909 is included, as is Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” address of June 1940. Named after Parliament’s first official printer, the physical Hansard record stretches to 3,000 volumes.