Many perceive the distribution of wealth in the UK to be more equal than it actually is. For 30 years the gap between the rich and the rest has widened and the trend shows no sign of slowing. The share of income going to the top 1% has doubled from 6% to 14%. If this growth continues at its current rate we are heading towards Victorian extremes in 20 years. The UK has the fourth highest level of inequality after Mexico, the US and Israel. Owners of multi-million-pound homes in central London (often the international super-rich) seem to live in a different world from those hit by the bedroom tax. However both are part of the same social fabric. The unequal society is driven by a more interlinked world economy keeping down wages at the bottom of the income scale so that working people compete with low-wage economies internationally.

According to recently leaked documents seen by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, representatives of big business rubbed shoulders with senior politicians at a ‘black and white’ ball in February. David Cameron and other top politicians dined with billionaire donors at a dinner costing £1,000 per head. Among the guests were executives of a highly controversial doorstep lending firm criticized for soliciting retired elderly people and who had donated more than £25,000 to the party in the past three years. The first donation came when the government was being encouraged to regulate payday loan companies. Property tycoons and a Ukrainian energy boss also attended the event. The leak comes following accusations that Mr Cameron backtracked on his pledge to clean up politics by getting rid of giant company lobbying. Last year a network of bankers, businesspeople and lobby groups attended a Conservative fundraising dinner costing £12,000 per person.

Village primary schools should consider teaching pupils by video link and allowing buildings to be used as post offices or community centres to stave off closure, according to the Church of England. Radical action is needed to prevent many of the 2,222 small Anglican schools – teaching almost 230,000 pupils – from being shut, it is claimed. In a major report, the CofE said rural primaries remained one of the state’s last points of contact with the countryside following a ‘steady decline’ in the number of shops, libraries, pubs and police and fire stations in recent years. But it said the days of fully autonomous primary schools – some teaching as few as 20 pupils – were ‘numbered’ because of a ‘constant salami slicing of budgets’ combined with teacher recruitment problems. The report called on the governors of all Anglican primaries in rural areas to carry out an internal review into their long-term viability, saying ‘doing nothing is not an option’.

The Liberal Democrats have backed a motion to end Christian assemblies in schools. At the party’s conference last week, delegates voted to repeal the existing legal requirement for all state-funded schools to hold acts of collective worship of a broadly Christian character. But a motion to ban faith-based selection in state-funded schools was defeated, after Business Secretary Vince Cable and Justice Minister Simon Hughes said it risked ‘really serious harm’. Earlier this year, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, who chairs the Church of England’s board of education, said Christian school assemblies should be replaced with a time of ‘spiritual reflection’. He claimed changing the law could be ‘liberating’ for schools and churches. However, an editorial in The Daily Telegraph said replacing Christian assemblies would be a ‘fundamental change’, adding that there is ‘no evidence’ to show that parents object to their children being exposed to Christian themes. (See also Prayer Alert 25-2014)

There are still significant problems at the five Birmingham schools placed into special measures following concerns about a hard-line Islamist takeover. England's schools' watchdog Ofsted says the action plans are still ‘not fit for purpose’ in some of the five. At one, ‘staff do not trust each other’, it says, and ‘safeguarding remains a serious concern’ at another. The inspections took place early this term. The Department for Education described them as ‘a snapshot’. The five schools were inspected - on an unannounced basis - between 8th and 12th September, and in some cases new governors and heads had only just started work. Inspectors raised concerns that it had taken too much time to appoint new governors and senior leaders at these schools. This meant ‘very little action’ had been taken to address the serious concerns raised about their performance. Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw said, 'Too much poor practice remained unchallenged during the summer term’.

Euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands have risen by 151 per cent over the last seven years, prompting fears about ‘steady extension’ if Britain legalises assisted suicide. According to Dutch media reports, the number of euthanasia deaths last year increased by 15 per cent to 4,829, compared to 4,188 in 2012. Last year 3,600 people in the Netherlands were euthanised because they had cancer, and there were 42 reports of euthanasia due to severe psychiatric problems, compared with 14 in 2012 and 13 in 2011. In 97 euthanasia cases, dementia was the reason given. These patients were mainly in the early stage of the condition, when they were able to communicate properly their wish to die. Dr Peter Saunders, Campaign Director of Care Not Killing,  highlighted statistics from Switzerland and Belgium, which show similar steep increases in cases of assisted suicide since the practice was legalised. (See also Prayer Alert 33-2014)

New education standards which may politicise the curriculum pave the way for schools being sued over what they teach, according to a senior QC. In a legal opinion for The Christian Institute, John Bowers QC said the regulations break the ‘seal’ that prevents schools facing legal action over what is taught. The standards, which came into force last month, require academies, free schools and independent schools in England to ‘actively promote’ the rights defined in the Equality Act 2010, including sexual orientation and transsexual rights. Bowers said the regulations provide ‘mechanisms in the law for disgruntled pupils, parents and campaigners’ to sue individual schools. He warned that teachers may face legal action if their attempts to simplify complex religious or philosophical topics are ‘deemed to undermine respect for some people’s beliefs. The standards could result in religious and political discussion being curtailed,' Bowers said

New cracks have been found in one of the reactors at Hunterston B nuclear power station in North Ayrshire. Two of about 3,000 graphite bricks in the core of reactor four are affected. Plant operator, EDF Energy, said the cracking had been predicted to occur as the station aged and it would not affect the safe operation of the reactor. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the issue was ‘hugely concerning’ to the public and that the Scottish government was seeking reassurances. ‘The Scottish government is seeking the information we need to assure the public about safety, because safety is absolutely paramount and cannot be compromised,’ she said. The cracks were found during a routine inspection which began in August. They have appeared since the last inspection in 2011

This week leading international scientists will warn a Parliamentary inquiry that the Government’s 3-parent baby plan raises serious public safety concerns and should not be permitted to go ahead. Currently, the proposed technique - known as ‘mitochondria replacement therapy’ - can only be used for research purposes, and involves transferring both parents’ DNA into a donor egg. Ministers say the procedure will help prevent mothers from passing mitochondrial disorders to their children. But in a letter to the Commons science and technology committee, the group of scientists will warn: ‘The safety of mitochondrial replacement therapy is not yet established sufficiently to proceed to clinical trials.’  An editorial in the New Scientist magazine warned that ‘we may have seriously underestimated the influence that mitochondria have’ in light of new research which ‘suggests that they play a key role in some of the most important features of human life.’

Growing numbers of domestic violence victims are being quizzed by their former partners in court due to cuts in legal aid which have led to a rise in litigation-in-person cases, family law specialists are warning. Emma Pearmaine, a family law specialist at Simpson Millar and director of the Leed's Law Society, said: ‘The number of women being cross-examined by abusive ex-partners in court has doubled in my experience since 2013. Judges do their best to step in and control cross-examination situations where it is a case for an injunction, or non-molestation order, for example, but they should be there to adjudicate on the case – not manage behaviour as a priority. These women are some of the most vulnerable in society and they now have no real protection. They are let down from start to finish. They suffer abuse at home then, torment from their abuser in court. For them there is no sense of justice.'