The most expensive 23 words in history?

When the Pope turned up for a visit last month, it cost the British taxpayer £10m, which annoyed a lot of people, though I'm not particularly bothered - lots of other heads of state with blood on their hands are wined and dined at our expense: Ceaucescu even got a medal, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath from the Queen (1989: Mugabe got one too), while the French gave him the Legion d'Honneur: the conservative press didn't even murmur a complaint.

However, the government didn't pay the £10m out of a single account: it was split between various departments according to relevance. The environment and energy ministry had to cough up £3.7m, money which could have been spent on solar panels, a turbine or any number of insulation projects.

What did the Pope say about environmentalism?

"The Holy See also looks forward to exploring with the United Kingdom new ways to promote environmental responsibility, to the benefit of all."

At £160,856.56 per word, that's money well spent. "Greenest government ever", according to Cameron.