Displaying items by tag: UK

The Bishop of Truro was asked to examine and report on global Christian persecution and the UK’s response. The report revealed, ‘Christianity is by far the most widely persecuted religion’ and ‘We have a sense of misguided political correctness making us blind to this issue. It recommends the UK Foreign Office seeks a Security Council resolution urging all Middle East and North African governments to protect Christians, and allow UN observers to monitor the necessary security measures. Lord Ahmad said the UK has previously raised the profile and acted on the rising tide of global Christian persecution with some success and will now consider the findings and recommendations of this report to see how they may enhance tackling Christian persecution even more. He added, ‘The report highlights the shocking impunity with which discriminatory laws, fear and violence are used by state and non-state antagonists to discriminate appallingly against Christians in countries across the world.’

Five armed Iranian boats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf on 10 July. The British Heritage tanker was in international waters when it was approached by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats and ordered to change course towards nearby Iranian territorial waters. A US aircraft was overhead and video recorded the incident. The UK's Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose was escorting the tanker from the rear. It trained its deck 30mm guns, designed to drive off small boats, on the Iranians while giving verbal warnings to back away, which they did. The UK's Ministry of Defence said ‘We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.’ The incident is yet another flashpoint in a series of maritime episodes involving Iran that have the makings of a political storm. Iran denies all charges. The US is working to strengthen maritime security in the region.

Last week Prayer Alert readers prayed for Cabinet members to get behind Theresa May as she prepares to negotiate with EU members next week, hoping to deliver the best possible clean Brexit  for the UK.

At the time of writing, (2 July 2018) Theresa May’s cabinet is squabbling loudly and in public ahead of a ‘crunch’ meeting at Chequers on Friday - when the Prime Minister wants to unite her team to agree on the terms of a white paper that she will present to Brussels next week.

There are strong views being aired on both sides of the Brexit debate regarding the customs arrangement. Brexiteers do not want to compromise in any customs union plans, while former remainers do not want anything that will damage UK business.

Pray: for God to pour his oil of peace over cabinet members in the coming days and during Friday’s meeting.
Pray: Ask God to replace public political backbiting and media speculation with professional qualified comments. May He bring harmony into all of Friday’s debates.
Pray: for Friday’s meeting to determine a way forward according to God’s agenda for the future of the United Kingdom.
Pray: for God’s flawless direction to replace unedifying public debate.

Security at Calais is tight and Caen is becoming the point for illegal migrants to reach the UK. On 30 May the Road Haulage Association spoke of truckers running a gauntlet of violence and intimidation by migrants trying to cross into Britain. ‘We have evidence of real and present threats to lorry drivers’ lives. Lorries are forced to stop by makeshift roadblocks where migrant gangs attempt to get on board - frequently with threats of violence. There have been threats of rape towards female drivers. There is no question that the risk to drivers is significant and the situation is deteriorating.’ The RHA said that the French authorities need to do more to ensure that hauliers can operate safely. Drivers have the right to complete their journeys in safety and though the police and security forces are doing their best, they are heavily outnumbered. The RHA is calling for the deployment of the French military, who have the resources necessary to bring the situation under control.

At the time of writing Brexit talks are continuing between the EU and British officials. Time is limited to solve the Irish border issue, with just four more rounds of meetings scheduled before the summit. Pray for David Davis and Olly Robbins leading the negotiations for the UK and Sabine Weyand, Michel Barnier’s deputy, negotiating for the EU. Brussels wants the whole withdrawal agreement, including citizens’ rights, the financial settlement, transition period, and Northern Ireland border to be agreed by the October meeting of the European Council, so that they can be scrutinised and approved by the European parliament. DUP leader Arlene Foster accused Mr Barnier of not understanding the Unionist position on the border.

Theresa May is warning leaders of Russia’s threat to all democracies; Russia has ‘shown itself to be a strategic enemy not a strategic partner’. Mrs May believes that although the attempted assassination of the Skripals took place on UK soil, the Russian threat does not respect borders and it places all nations at risk, adding, ‘As a European democracy, the UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with the EU and Nato members to face these threats together. United, we will succeed.’ Whitehall stressed the response to the Salisbury attack was carefully calibrated to remain within the law, and the UK was not looking for huge confrontations with Russia or regime change. The US, UK, France and Germany recently signed up to a very strong and uncompromising statement, and the prime minister is now using blunt language to the world and to the rest of EU member states.

On 20 March environment secretary Michael Gove told Tory MPs to 'keep their eyes on the prize' in the row over Brexit and fishing waters after the latest Europe Brexit meetings. Theresa May’s agreement to keep EU fishing policies during the transition period meant the UK had not got what it wanted from the negotiations. Control of fishing waters has been delayed. The next day protesters threw dead fish into the Thames outside Parliament, in solidarity with the fishing communities who expected to control UK waters the day it leaves the EU. The demonstrations were called environmental vandalism. Jacob Rees-Mogg said the proposal for Britain to remain in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy for almost two years after March 2019, with no say over the allocation of quotas, would not command the support of the Commons, adding he was not pleased with the transition deal but he could live with it.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43484031

During a three-day visit to the UK Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, has vowed to promote religious freedom. He said this at an hour-long private meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury on 8 March. Justin Welby described the crown prince as 'cordial and honest' and a statement from Lambeth Palace said the prince had 'made a strong commitment to promote the flourishing of those of different faith traditions and to interfaith dialogue within the kingdom and beyond'. 32-year-old Mohammed bin Salman, considered the presumptive heir to 82-year-old King Salman, is seeking to promote new reforms for Saudi Arabia. During the discussion the Archbishop pressed concerns over restrictions on Christian worship in Saudi Arabia, where converting away from Islam is punishable by death and non-Islamic places of worship are banned.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s court case, at which she was expected to have her jail sentence extended, was postponed following the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Iran. Boris Johnson has said he held ‘worthwhile’ meetings in Tehran over the case of the jailed British-Iranian woman, but warned that he did not wish ‘to raise false hopes’ for her release. He believed his messages had been understood by senior Iranian figures, but admitted it was too early to be confident of the outcome, casting doubt on her family’s hopes that she might be released in time for Christmas.

More than 56,000 attempts were made to get into Kent from France in 2016. That is an average of 153 attempts a day and is the second highest in seven years, despite dropping by 25,000 compared to 2015. The Home Office said the decrease was a ‘success’. Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke said it was shocking: ‘The figures underline the true scale of the challenge we face, and why we need more investment at our border.’ Pray for the Home Office, Border Force, and their French counterparts as they maintain border security and keep legitimate passengers and trade moving.