Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Arlene Foster announced her resignation as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and as NI first minister after an internal revolt. Mrs Foster said she would step down as DUP leader on 28 May, and as first minister at the end of June. Her decision came after she had to face a revolt among her party's representatives. Over twenty DUP NI assembly members and four MPs had signed a letter voicing no confidence in her leadership. She had become party leader in December 2015. Pray for the outworkings of Brexit and the Irish Sea border to be resolved amicably by her replacement. Pray for GB-NI trade difficulties to be diplomatically resolved, with restored trust in each other’s purposes and policies. Pray also for assembly members, worried about retaining their seats, to put loyalty in serving their country above their own political interests. See

The Archbishops' anti-racism taskforce report calls for urgent changes. Failure to act could be the ‘last straw’ for many from the UK minority ethnic (UKME) backgrounds. Setting out 47 action areas across participation, governance, training, education and young people, the report states that racism is a sin. The church has been discussing the issue for 44 years. The nine-strong taskforce was set up in autumn 2020 to review previous reports of racial justice, discover whether their recommendations had been implemented, and prepare the ground for the establishment of a longer-term Commission on Racial Justice. One of the report’s main recommendations is the recruitment of more bishops and senior members of the church from UKME backgrounds, with suggested quotas. It highlights the fact that the new Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, is the only UKME bishop in the Church of England. 

On 16 April university students had a day of action to demand fee refunds because Covid-19 has affected their education. When they signed up for university they were promised sufficient access to facilities, course equipment, and social contact to help them achieve their degrees. But they were limited to internet zoom lectures of variable standard and still expected to pay the full price. The Write Off, Right Now (WORN) group is applying pressure on the government to refund fees because they did not receive value for money. WORN asked students nationwide to ‘take over’ social media to spread the message of the unfair demand for full fees. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson instructed the Office for Students ‘to take swift action where quality and academic standards have dropped’. An online petition, calling for tuition fees to be cut had received over 580,000 signatures in three days.

1 Cor 3:11 tells us, ‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’. Years ago, Scotland was the ‘Land of The Book’. A Bible would be open on many kitchen tables, but today the word of God lies mainly forgotten and unused on shelves (as in the rest of the UK). When Holyrood opened, everyone believed MSPs would act and pass laws according to the words on the ceremonial mace: ‘Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, Integrity’. However, departing from God’s word has resulted in declining personal and national morals, with lawlessness increased, as predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2. The media regularly expose lack of righteousness in many areas of society today, including politicians. A recent newspaper article stated, ‘We deserve the politicians we get’. We can ask God to lead Scotland to select MSPs who hold dear to Christian values and place serving others above their own interests.

A bomb was planted beneath the car of a serving part-time female police officer in County Derry, leading to condemnation from first minister Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly who criticised it as a ‘reprehensible’ attack. The device, which was found before it did any damage to her or her young child, was defused by British army explosives experts. Legislative assembly member Cara Hunter said that no one should live in fear of going to work: ‘Our officers protect our communities every day and keep them safe. My thoughts are with them and their families.’ The attack comes amid mounting sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland, which have spilled over into violence several times in recent weeks.

Christians in Media is a UK network and community that supports, encourages and inspires Christians who work in, and with, the media - producers, journalists, photographers, editors, content creators, social media managers, press officers, and war correspondents. Through local meet-ups and a flourishing online network, they seek to help Christians better understand how their faith and work interact, and to encourage and inspire each other to be disciples whilst meeting the demands of the industry. Pray for more Christians to apply for media jobs, and for churches to engage positively with the media. Pray for Christians working in broadcasting and culture to be more visible as they boldly stand up for Christian values when planning programmes, inviting guests for interviews, and organising reviews of the news. Pray that what we read, listen to or watch will help us to go deeper in our faith.

The Bishop of Truro’s independent review, published in July 2019, explained what the Foreign Office could do to improve the experience of Christians around the world who are currently tortured, discriminated against, or put in prison for their faith. Now DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson, a Christian, has asked the Government in a written question, ‘What progress has been made in implementing the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations?’ He was told that ten of the recommendations are fully delivered, good progress has been made on eight, and all 22 will be delivered by 2022.

Scientists are concerned that vaccines may be less effective against the Indian variant, which could become dominant in the UK by June. The double mutation Covid-19 variant is thought to be behind a sudden surge in cases in India which has overwhelmed hospitals. A total of 182 cases have been detected in the UK, 162 in the five weeks up to 16 April, forcing Boris Johnson to postpone his trip to India and the government to add India to its travel ‘red list’. Viruses regularly mutate but most are insignificant, however, some mutations can make the virus more infectious, deadly or resistant to vaccines. The Indian virus may be one of those - especially because two mutations have come together to help infect cells and evade the immune system.

The governments of the UK, Germany and France have expressed ‘grave concern’ over Iran’s move to boost uranium enrichment to 60% in response to what Tehran says was an attack by Israel against its key nuclear facility at Natanz. The three European countries say the announcement is ‘particularly regrettable’ at a time when talks in Vienna have resumed, including the United States, to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. They also said this was showing Iran to be on the path to a nuclear weapon, adding, ‘Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level’.

The UK has been in Afghanistan since 2001, with over 450 troops dying during the conflicts with the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said they now plan to ‘drawdown’ the number of troops from next month. Confirming the planned departure of forces, he also warned any attacks on existing troops would be ‘met with a forceful response’. The US has said it will withdraw all forces by 11 September, and NATO confirmed allies would begin withdrawing troops from 1 May. Pray that the patchwork of multiple different competing tribal leaders agree to negotiate territory boundaries and not revert to the violent clashes seen in the past. Pray that the fragile government will successfully prevent chaos in parts of Afghanistan currently strongholds for terrorists. Pray that future negotiations between the government and Taliban will lead to meaningful reductions in violence once foreign troops are out of the equation.