Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

The co-chair of the new anti-racism taskforce, the Revd Sonia Barron, has said that the Church of England must not just ‘pay lip-service’ to issues of racism. On 13 October the Church announced the launch of a taskforce, which will propose actions that the Church should take to promote greater racial equality across the Church. The work of the group will include sifting through 160 recommendations that already exist, most of them made by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) since 1985, and identifying any that have been ignored and could be implemented. Their recommendations will be presented to the Archbishops’ Racism Action Commission, which will be launched in spring 2021.

A plan to use nets to stop dinghies carrying migrants across the English Channel is being considered by the Government. Dan O'Mahoney, who leads the Home Office's efforts to tackle illegal crossings outlined the strategy to the Sunday Telegraph. ‘We definitely are very, very close to being able to implement a safe return tactic where we make an intervention safely on a migrant vessel, take migrants on board our vessel and then take them back to France. The problem with that currently is that the French won't accept them back.’ He said this was just one of a number of methods his team has considered deploying over the next few months, but he did not go into further details.

Late summer has seen our hedgerows laden with fruits and berries, and ancient oaks bowed under the weight of acorns. Their deep roots have stood the test of time and enabled them to remain fruitful through drought and storm. Give thanks for this sign of the Lord’s steadfast faithfulness in uncertain times and His promise of future growth and harvest, material and spiritual. Covid-19 has led to businesses closing and job losses nationally. Rural pubs can’t trade under the new regulations. Many rural communities are heavily dependent on tourism, hospitality, and seasonal work, and coronavirus has further exposed the weaknesses of this narrow economic base: yet those communities also have great potential to contribute to the recovery of the nation’s economy. Pray for all who have lost jobs and businesses, asking especially that they will find a hope and a future in the One whose plans for us are for our welfare and peace (Jeremiah 29:11).

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church have insisted it is in everyone’s interests to achieve the clarity and security a Brexit agreement will provide. They have also reaffirmed their commitment to protect the 1998 Good Friday Agreement - which established a new era of non-violence in Northern Ireland following 30 years of brutal sectarian conflict. The group stated, ‘We do not underestimate the challenges faced by the negotiating parties in terms of the complexity and the significance of what is at stake. As church leaders on the island of Ireland, we have welcomed the important commitment of both parties in the negotiations to the protection of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in all its parts. We hope that the agreement will serve as a source of inspiration and a foundation to build upon, as we continue to work through the Brexit process.’

A mother is taking a gender clinic to court to prevent it giving sex-change drugs to her autistic daughter. She wants to prevent youngsters making 'catastrophic' decisions that they live to regret. The woman, called 'Mrs A' for legal reasons, fears her 16-year-old daughter will be fast-tracked for transgender medical treatment once she is seen by clinicians at the Gender Identity Development Service in London. She says they will simply 'affirm' the girl's belief - mistaken in her mother's opinion - that she is really a boy. In reality, Mrs A believes her daughter's desire to be male is driven by having Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. She said, 'This is bigger than just my child. The whole narrative is that if your child is confused about their gender, then transition is the only course of action. There doesn't seem to be any discussion of other possibilities. That's frightening.'

In a virtual Conservative conference speech in which Boris Johnson’s gaze extended over the horizon, to the time when our national conversation is no longer dominated by coronavirus. He said he wanted to build a ‘new Jerusalem’, with opportunity for all and improved housing and healthcare. He warned the UK could not return to normal after the pandemic, which would be a ‘catalyst’ for major change; and rejected suggestions he had ‘lost his mojo’ as ‘drivel’. He wants to see the back of coronavirus and the ‘erosion of liberties’ it had led to. He wants to see the country flourishing again. He said, ‘Even in the darkest moments we can see the bright future ahead, and we can see how to build it and we will build it together.’

You may be apart but you can sleep out together. London City Mission are inviting people to spend the night of Saturday 21 November sleeping outside to raise money and awareness of those in London facing this winter without a home. The 2020 Sleepout event is in support of the Webber Street Homeless Day Centre, which offers practical help and the hope of Christ to the homeless. This year it will be a virtual, fun activity with online talks from those working at Webber Street with other people joining you from all over the country live via Zoom. The organisers say, ‘There’s loads of exciting ways to jump into a sleeping bag and make heaps of difference. It’s an exciting and challenging way to get others to support you and raise money together for people living on the streets in London. For more information go to

Covid restrictions will be tightened with pub and restaurant closures in some areas. Overnight stays away from home in these areas could also be banned. A three-tier lockdown system is being planned. The NHS is worried about the disease’s spread and patients losing out on other treatments. No 11 is fearful about the impact on the economy. It’s No 10's job to worry about all of it, then reach a conclusion. Pray for the leaders and their advisors as they face a complicated equation. The Academy of Medical Colleges called on people to abide ‘strictly’ to coronavirus measures to prevent NHS services from becoming overwhelmed. It says we could soon be back to where we were in April if we are not all extremely careful. Meanwhile the MP Margaret Ferrier caught coronavirus but then attended church. See. Northern England currently has growing numbers of hospital admissions and more elderly in intensive care.

Prince William and Sir David Attenborough have joined forces to launch what they hope will become the ‘Nobel Prize for environmentalism’. They say the search is on for fifty solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems by 2030. The ‘Earthshot Prize’ of £50m will be awarded over a decade, It’s the biggest environmental prize ever. The Prince said ‘positivity’ had been missing from the climate debate - something the award could supply. ‘The prize is about harnessing optimism and urgency to find some of the world's solutions to some of the greatest environmental problems’, he told the BBC. ‘Anyone could win’. He called for ‘amazing people’ to create ‘brilliant innovative projects’ to help save the planet. There will be five awards of £1m each year for ten years.

A ban on households meeting indoors was part of further restrictions announced on 1st October for the north of England. Many universities are reporting coronavirus cases and thousands of students are self-isolating, having lectures delivered online with few face to face tutorials. Students are struggling to get food supplies, others are questioning why they were told to leave home when most teaching is being done remotely. On 27 September University Hospitals Birmingham reported 1,001 deaths since 14 March.  It was the first hospital trust to record 1,000 Covid-19 deaths, saying the toll is the ‘terrible reality’ of the virus. Pray that God will use His people to bring hope to the thousands caught in anxiety over a fresh coronavirus wave. May His peace rest on those in fear because not knowing what tomorrow will bring, and His presence and hope for the future into lives tormented with a sense of not being in control.