Displaying items by tag: British Isles

The UK government, which hosts a climate summit this year, has allowed a coal mine at Whitehaven to go ahead. The leading climate scientist James Hansen has warned Boris Johnson that he risks ‘humiliation’ over plans for the mine to extract coking coal from under the Irish Sea. Dr Hansen, formerly Nasa's leading global warming researcher, urged the PM to halt production. No 10 said the UK was a world leader on climate change, but would not reverse the local council’s decision on the mine. They have stressed that industries such as steel production require coking coal - which would have to be imported if it were not produced in the UK. The mine will produce a grade of coking coal for steel-making; 85% of it is destined for export to Europe. Government sources hinted that the need for continuing domestic steel production was another reason for not opposing the mine.

Covid-19 and the lockdowns have brought a wide range of new challenges for church leaders in a short space of time, and a significant number are feeling the effects. Savanta ComRes, in partnership with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), surveyed 201 leaders of different denominations during the period between the two lockdowns. They were asked to think about the two years before Covid, then about the period since restrictions began, and to assess their mental health during that time. 93% of them said that in the two years leading up to March 2020, they had very good or fairly good mental health. It is impressive that church leaders overall reported this level of happiness with their mental health. But in the period since then, that went down to 85%, and 15% said it was poor or very poor.

London City Mission (LCM) is helping churches to reach out to people who belong to socially-excluded groups - prisoners, those who are homeless, trafficked into the UK, or with addictions. For many who experience rejection and hostility, a crippling sense of shame and unworthiness is a far greater obstacle to coming to church. Imagine that you’d like to go to church but have not been able to access a shower and clean clothes for the past ten days. How might people react to you? Gently edge you to one side, outright reject you, or offer awkward sympathy? To overcome this fear of rejection, LCM is helping churches to look outward, stepping beyond their comfort zone and seeking ways to connect with people far beyond the church community. They also want to help the church to consider how it can improve their welcome to people who have experienced social exclusion and help them feel comfortable amongst Christians.

Care home visitor bans have been branded a human rights breach by some MPs, who are demanding a new law allowing visits and have given the government a two-week deadline to act and stop residents dying in isolation. A committee of MPs and peers has called on government ministers to legislate against blanket bans on care home visits in England, which they argue is a breach of the basic right to family life. We can pray for all residents to receive visits from a close relative or friend. This is what happens in Ontario, where they changed the law to allow access to care homes and mental health hospitals for a relative who is a designated caregiver and part of the home/hospital’s care team, provided they test negative before each visit. Harriet Harman heads up the team of MPs who have asked Matt Hancock to ‘consider our proposal as a matter of urgency and respond to us by 17 February’.

Urgent testing for the South Africa variant of coronavirus is beginning in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Bristol, Walsall, and Birmingham after cases were found with no known links to travel or previous cases. The variant, which was identified as part of Public Health England's random checks on tests, prompted fears there may be community transmission of the virus. It is not known how many cases have been identified. Mobile testing units have been dispatched to a number of neighbourhoods where the cases have been identified.

Research shows 1 in 4 UK adults cannot remember the last time someone outside their family called to ask how they are. A poll of over 2,000 people, commissioned by Christian Premier Lifeline (PL), has found that 26 per cent do not get such calls, rising to 31 per cent in those aged 35-54. PL has a campaign, Call5, to encourage people to call at least five people they know who might be lonely or neglected. PL’s Jonathan Clark said, ‘Every one of us could play a role in helping a friend or a neighbour, and it’s as easy as just picking up the phone.’

A battle between the EU and UK reveals the ugly truth about vaccine nationalism that is appearing across the globe. The UN General Assembly showed unity as global deaths approached a million last year. They said, ‘When a vaccine is developed, the world's most vulnerable should be first in line.’ The vaccines are here and solidarity between the nations has disappeared entirely. The EU has secured enough doses to cover its population three times. Canada has purchased enough to cover a population four times its size. The UK has agreements with vaccine suppliers, and did not expect the EU to disrupt the fulfillment of these contracts. However, the EU almost invoked a Brexit deal clause to prevent the UK from receiving vaccines from Europe. While stocks are limited governments will put their own populations first. Pray for pharmaceutical companies to share their ‘know how’ with poor countries to enable them to produce their own vaccinations.

Cocaine worth £76 million was discovered in a shipment of bananas by officers during a routine inspection at Southampton. The class A drugs, weighing almost a ton, were placed in the cargo in Colombia and bound for Belgium. Home secretary Priti Patel said, ‘This was drug-smuggling on an industrial scale’. She is delighted that Border Force prevented such dangerous goods from reaching our streets to devastate communities, line the pockets of criminals, and ruin young lives across the country. On the same day as the cocaine discovery a gangster hit squad was jailed for dousing a rival drug dealer in petrol, setting him on fire, and leaving him to burn to death in his own flat. See

Boris Johnson has said reopening schools is a national priority, and the return of students to the classroom will be ‘the first sign of normality beginning to return’. He acknowledged how ‘frustrating’ the news will be for teachers, parents and carers, as well as the mental health impact on pupils stuck at home for such a prolonged period of time. Despite pressure from backbenchers and parental pressure groups calling for schools to reopen, the Prime Minister urged that they should do so only when it is safe to do so. Please continue to pray for stressed and weary parents working from home and educating their children; may they find a peaceful and quiet time in their busy schedule to be spiritually and mentally refreshed. Pray also for isolated and vulnerable children, particularly those falling into depression and/or rebellion. Ask God to help them have positive internet conversations with teachers and friends and discover ways to combat anxiety.

A BBC programme aimed at nine- to twelve-year-olds claims that there are 'over 100 gender identities'. The film, ‘Understanding Sexual and Gender Identities', is offered on its website as part of its relationships and sex education package for home schooling. It tells children that becoming transgender is a way to be 'happy', while making no mention of the growing legal and medical concerns about the rising number of children saying they want to change gender. When a pupil asks, 'How many gender identities are there?' the teacher replies, 'There are many gender identities. We know we have male and female, but there are over 100 if not more gender identities now. Some people might feel they are two different genders, some might think they are bi-gender. There are some who might call themselves “gender-queer” - like, I don't want to be anything in particular, I just want to be me.'