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The pressures of Christmas spending will drive four million people to take out payday loans to cover Christmas costs, despite a cut in the average budget for festive spending and giving fewer presents this year. Louise Brittain of R3 the insolvency trade body said, ‘I would urge people to think again before taking out a high interest loan to pay for presents, partying or luxury food. Debt has been normalized, attributable in part to clever marketing campaigns of big payday lenders operating glossy websites who are capitalizing on a shift in attitudes towards saving and debt.’ One in four families struggles to break even every month. Meanwhile a national debt counselling charity that works through local churches called ‘Christians Against Poverty’ offers hope and solutions to debt through a service showing God’s love in action sustainable poverty relief of counseling and practical help. See: http://www.capuk.org/who/aboutus.php
Pray: for Christian charities and networks helping people in debt to reach those in most need; and for similar Christian resources to be birthed at this time of recession. (Mt.25:35-36)
Payday loan firms have been told to change their behaviour after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found evidence of ‘widespread irresponsible lending’. The OFT is giving the biggest 50 firms 12 weeks to change their practices, or they risk losing their licences. It also plans to refer the market to the Competition Commission, after it found ‘deep-rooted’ problems in how payday loan companies compete. In response, the loans industry said it was already changing its operations. The Government has also announced plans to ‘weed out rogue lenders’ and place further controls on the way they are allowed to advertise. In addition, it said the high rates of interest charged by payday lenders could make the consequences of irresponsible lending ‘particularly acute’. (See also Prayer Alert 50-2012)
Pray: that the OFT’s pressure and the Government's move to exert controls will restrict irresponsible lending. (Pr.28:25)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21683739
The UK's payday lenders have been warned that tougher regulation is on its way, to protect consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed that all borrowers should have an "affordability" check before being given a loan. Among other new rules, the FCA wants to put risk warnings on adverts and marketing material. The payday industry gave the plans a guarded welcome, saying irresponsible lenders would struggle to comply. Martin Wheatley, the FCA's chief executive, said: "Today I'm putting payday lenders on notice: tougher regulation is coming and I expect them all to make changes so that consumers get a fair outcome. The clock is ticking." The proposals mean that anyone taking out a loan would need to prove that they could afford to repay it. In a separate government survey, one in five customers said they were not even asked about their finances when they applied for a payday loan.
Pray: for all those who fall victims of unscrupulous loan sharks and that these moves by the FCA will bring an end to such usury. (Eze.18:17)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24372134
Are Christians being marginalised in public life? Is it becoming more difficult to speak freely or be authentically Christian in the workplace? What does the law actually have to say about these issues? These are just some of the questions a cross-party group of Christian MPs and Peers are attempting to address as part of Clearing the Ground - a parliamentary inquiry to see how the law treats Christians. The All Party Parliamentary Group 'Christians in Parliament' has launched the inquiry to seek clarity regarding what Christians can and cannot do within the law. It will cut through the claims made in the media and by opposing campaign groups to consider whether Christians are finding their freedoms eroded. Gary Streeter MP, who is chairing the inquiry, said: ‘There has never been a more significant time for Christians to make a positive contribution to our society.’
Pray: for God’s wisdom to prevail leading to positive contributions and clear understanding. (Col.2:2)
Last week's UNICEF report on parenting led to a flood of news items lamenting the consumer culture and its impact on British children. In fact, UNICEF interviewed a total of 25– yes, twenty-five – families across Europe . That's fewer than ten per country. This is hardly a good statistical base for drawing conclusions. Another report commissioned for the Labour party questioned 2000 adults in the UK and found ‘a yearning for traditional family values’, which many feel have disappeared, saying the ‘ideal’ family should have a mother and a father. This is quite a contrast to Government policies over the last decade encouraging mothers to go out to work. Jill Kirby, a family expert and author of The Price Of Parenthood, said: ‘This survey shows how out of touch current political parties are with what families really need and what most women want. They want more time with their children.’
Pray: for governments and policy to be much more oriented to support family life. (Eph.3:14-15)
Many parents fear music videos have become too sexualised and violent, the founder of a parenting website has said. Siobhan Freegard, of Netmums, said parents were not prudes, but felt things had "gone too far". In a survey of some 1,500 website members, most (82%) said their children had repeated sexual lyrics without knowing their meaning. And three-quarters said they tried to stop children watching music videos. Ms Freegard said parents were most angry that their children were being exposed to "lewd viewing" on programmes shown before the 21:00 watershed for family viewing. "Modern parents aren't prudes - they know sex sells," she said. "But there's a strong feeling that things have gone too far now. It's toxic to tell young kids casual sex and violence are something to aspire to." Most (75%) of parents with daughters said very sexual pop acts were teaching girls they would be "judged on their looks, not their achievements or personality".
Pray: for this issue, that is regularly raised by concerned groups, to be noticed and acted upon by all authorities to tackle the problem in a meaningful and positive way. (1Pe.3:3-4)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24836571
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An American woman who claims to worship Norse gods has won the right to stay in Britain because of her ‘family life’ with her boyfriend and his wife. The Home Office refused Emily DiSanto, permission to stay in Britain because the law bans polygamous relationships. But now she has won an extraordinary legal case in which she is allowed to remain on the basis
of her human right to family life. Emily now shares Alan and Anne-Marie Caulfield’s marital home in south-east London with his two children – one by each of the women. The case is the latest example of how human rights laws are being used to overturn the decisions of ministers in immigration cases in what critics say are dubious circumstances. This decision also shows the definition of family life is now widening far beyond the conventional couple with children and has implications for immigrants who believe in polygamy, which is still practised in parts of the Muslim world and – illegally – by breakaway Mormons in the USA.
Pray: for God’s hand on the lives of these people and also for the courts to recognise the primacy of monogamous marriage in our society. (2Sa.22:31)
Police officers have been given the right to take days off to dance naked on the solstices, celebrate fertility rituals and burn Yule logs if they profess pagan beliefs. The Pagan Police Association claimed yesterday that it had been recognised by the Home Office as a ‘diversity staff support association’ - a status also enjoyed by groups representing female, black, gay, Muslim and disabled officers. Endorsement would mean that chief constables could not refuse a pagan officer’s request to take feast days as part of his or her annual leave. The eight pagan festivals include Imbolc (the feast of lactating sheep), Lammas (the harvest festival) and the Summer Solstice (when mead drinking and naked dancing are the order of the day). Problematically, the pagan festivals also include Samhain (known to non-pagans as Hallowe’en), a day when police leave is often cancelled because of the high incidence of vandalism, violence and antisocial behaviour.
Pray: that the problems caused by all these diverse requests will not damage working relationships or effective policing.
(Pr.28:19)
Primark has been forced to withdraw padded bikinis for seven-year-olds after critics condemned the store for fuelling child sexualisation. The Children’s Society slammed the popular high street chain for ‘premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising’. A child protection consultant who works to help victims of paedophilia said: ‘It never fails to amaze me just how many High Street household names are now prepared to exploit the disgusting ‘paedophile pound’.’ Parents warned that children were facing pressure to grow up too soon. Penny Nicholls, director of children and young people at The Children’s Society, said: ‘We know from our research that commercial pressures towards premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising are damaging children’s well-being. The evidence shows that adults feel children are more materialistic than in past generations, while children themselves feel under pressure to keep up with the latest trends.’
Pray: for our youngsters and against pressures that promote the premature sexualisation of our children. (Eph.5:5)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/padded-bikinis-for-7-year-olds-dropped-after-outcry/
A controversial new BBC lesbian drama which showed two women having sex next to a corpse has left TV viewers appalled. BBC 3’s Lip Service, aimed at viewers as young as 16, began airing this week and has attracted complaints from scores of viewers. Actress Laura Fraser, who plays a character called Cat, said: ‘I started to feel like I was making a porno film. At the end of a day I was thinking ‘what am I doing for a living?’ The BBC describes Lip Service as being a ‘bold’ drama ‘about the sex lives and love affairs of twenty-something lesbians living in contemporary Glasgow’. The show has attracted a number of complaints, one viewer describing the funeral parlour sex scene as ‘stomach churning’. Harriet Braun, the show’s creator, claims that the show is as realistic as possible. She said: ‘It was important, I wanted it to reflect real life.’ Pray: that the BBC comes to recognise that it should set standards rather than follow minority foibles. (1Ti.6:20) More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/viewers-outraged-over-bbcs-new-lesbian-show/