Displaying items by tag: CARE

The Conservative Party is looking into reports that a male Tory frontbencher watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons debating chamber. Christian charity CARE said the ‘harms’ of pornography are ‘truly distressing’ and the political class must take account of porn's harms. A 2018 report found over 24,000 attempts to access pornographic websites from parliamentary computers. CARE said that members of parliament watching pornography openly in and around the House of Commons, in front of colleagues, shows a cavalier attitude that ignores the feelings of others and displays a disturbing lack of empathy for victims. The porn industry publishes videos of underage and non-consensual sex, rape, violence, and other vile behaviours. Children are damaged through encountering porn online. This MP appears not to care. The harms of the porn industry, and pornography consumption, are truly distressing. Our political class must recognise and take account of them.

Last week we prayed for better laws and legislation to safeguard children from online sexual exploitation. This week the Christian charity CARE said that the legislation - as it stands - falls short of safeguarding children. They said many amendments must be made to the bill, such as the issue of age verification measures. Tim Cairns said, ‘Last year, they drafted a bill that didn't cover all pornography websites. They amended the bill and the second reading was on 19 April.’ CARE said that there are still issues to be ironed out. For example, websites with self-selecting tick boxes do not meet the requirements for age assurance, or age verification. CARE said, ‘There is a moral duty to do this, given its broken promise to usher in age checks in 2017. Ministers can’t afford to let children down a second time.’

CARE has urged ministers to curb internet pornography, to prevent more cases of sexual violence. During proceedings at the Old Bailey this week, it emerged that rapist and murderer Wayne Couzens viewed ‘brutal pornography’ before committing his crimes. A former colleague noted his attraction to ‘brutal sexual pornography’. The Government’s own research in February found that the majority of frontline workers spontaneously mentioned pornography as an influential factor for harmful sexual behaviour towards women and girls. CARE campaigned successfully for legislation to curb porn sites and restrict access by children. However, these measures were scrapped by the Government in 2019. CARE said that the Couzens case is an example of where porn obsession can lead. If we want to avoid more such cases, the Government must stop men accessing sites which glorify rape and violence.

Shortly after UK armed forces minister James Heappey had warned of an imminent terror attack, and had called on those queuing outside Kabul airport to move to safety, two explosions rocked the area on 26 August, leaving a number of casualties and throwing evacuation efforts into more turmoil, days before President Joe Biden's deadline for the USA to leave the country. At least 13 people including children were killed and many others were injured in what Taliban sources described as a suicide attack. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said a ‘better option’ for fleeing Afghans would be to travel across the land border. Christian charity CARE said that the current situation in Afghanistan is a recipe for a human trafficking disaster. Afghan women, fearful of life under new political leadership and aware of attacks on their rights, will want to escape oppression and may, in desperation, turn to illegal means of leaving the country. Many who are promised a better life will end up falling into modern slavery, whether that means commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, or domestic servitude. See

Passion for the Nation reminds us that ‘the favour that brings promotion and power does not come from anywhere on earth, for no one exalts a person but God’ (Psalm 75:7). Pray that every political party will be filled by gifted people on whom God’s favour rests; men and women of righteousness and integrity, who will know, experience and be guided by heaven’s wisdom and truth, aligning this nation with Kingdom purposes and plans. We can declare that God’s light will shine into every dark place, and we speak God’s plans for good over every other agenda, in the name of Jesus. The Evangelical Alliance has launched a prayer series entitled ‘Praying ahead of the general election’. CARE has recently gone live on a bespoke election website, EngaGE19. The World Prayer Centre team have invited Christians to join them at PrayerShift on 9 November, Watch and Pray on 25 November, and intercession on 12 December. See

John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for education, has outlined his intent to relaunch the controversial Named Person Scheme. The Scottish Government was compelled to rethink its approach following the success of the No to Named Person Coalition, which argued before the Supreme Court that the scheme was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. CARE also raised concerns that the scheme is an unwelcome intrusion which will undermine parental authority and potentially misuse private data; in practice, parents are best placed to take care of their children. Mr Swinney has not clarified whether the scheme will be proactive or will be responsive to parents’ needs. Whilst CARE is pleased that there has been a consultation on how data will be shared, there has been little attempt to define key terms in the bill which could potentially lead to huge discrepancies in its operation.