Displaying items by tag: Politics

On 22 October the House of Lords will debate and possibly vote on the Assisted Dying Bill. It aims to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with six months or less to live. The media report that Boris Johnson opposes the legislation after carefully reviewing the arguments for and against a law change. Health secretary Sajid Javid is understood to have made clear he does not intend to vote to relax the law. This news will be welcomed by opponents of assisted suicide who feared a move towards cabinet support for changing the law. In the last year former health secretary Matt Hancock and former justice secretary David Gauke both endorsed assisted suicide. Parliament has debated this issue on several occasions, but there has been no change. Pray for the bill to continue to remain unchanged. See also

The murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer caused a national outcry over gender-based crimes, and a new question: should misogyny be considered a hate crime? Activists, criminal justice experts, and opposition lawmakers say the definition of a hate crime should be expanded to ensure greater punishment for crimes of harassment, domestic abuse and stalking. But the government has so far ruled that out. Boris Johnson said the legislation currently in place was ‘abundant’ but not properly enforced. Widening the scope would increase the burden on police. Ruth Davison, CEO of the charity Refuge, said, ‘When did we ever take the scale of a problem as a reason not to act on it?’ Government statistics reveal that one in four women have experienced sexual assault, one in three women will face domestic abuse in their lifetime, and a woman is killed by a man every three days, with many cases involving domestic violence.

The UK wants to change the Brexit process to allow goods to circulate more freely between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as current rules impose too many barriers to the sale of products. The EU have set out proposals that involve reduced checks on goods and medicines. The January post-Brexit arrangement, the Northern Ireland Protocol, was introduced to help prevent border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Both sides agree in differing degrees that the protocol poses many difficulties. EU and UK talks to reach a better arrangement are likely to go on for several weeks.

Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel, said that now was ‘not the time’ for Mr Johnson to go on holiday in Spain. He told him to ‘bang ministerial heads together’ after a row broke out between different departments as to how to resolve the energy crisis and stop factories having to cease production. The business secretary was accused of making misleading claims about offering energy bailouts to factories struggling with soaring costs. Mr Stace said the Government should ‘shield’ the steel industry from soaring energy costs in the short-term, or risk ‘a bigger bill for the taxpayer’. He said that the industry was not seeking subsidies, but an end to ‘policy costs’ to cover the transition towards renewables which have been ‘piled on - making them uncompetitive’. See also

The Universal Credit extra payments helping people through Covid have ended, amid fears that many lives will get worse not better this winter. 29-year-old Lynton Lockett is embarrassed to show people his kitchen. A leaking kitchen tap caused mould on the floor and walls. The dampness has brought an infestation of fruit flies. Lynton showed the kitchen to plumber James Anderson who runs a community initiative called DEPHER CIC that provides free heating and plumbing services to people who can't pay for them. James anticipates a 50% increase in calls for help this winter. He has started giving food parcels to struggling families. He said that the end of payments, the higher cost of living, a rise in gas prices and the end of furlough puts too much financial pressure on families. He added, ‘You can't hide the truth. If this continues, people are going to die.’ See also

On 26 September voters elected the Bundestag's parliamentary seats. The dominant political parties - SPD, CDU and CSU - finished only ten seats apart. Angela Merkel’s departure has opened up a large void. Many older MPs have been replaced by people in their thirties or even twenties. This rejuvenation will bring many openings for renewal and innovation in the current technological and global transformation, but will also pose potential risks that need prayer. Will Germany manage to keep its leadership in Europe, or will France supplant it? What can the EU expect from the new Chancellor and coalition on climate change, trade, and technology? How do the elected candidates see Europe’s place in the world? What will the results mean for Germany’s relationships with France, the USA, Russia, or China?

Three-quarters of small French fishing boats could be denied access to British waters under a post-Brexit regime in a move that risks further damaging Anglo-French relations. The UK government had granted only 12 out of a total of 47 applications for licences for the French vessels under 12 metres long to fish the UK’s inshore waters. France’s maritime minister, Annick Girardin, condemned the decision. ‘It is a new refusal by the British to implement the conditions of the Brexit agreement despite all the work we have done together. French fishing should not be taken hostage by the British for political ends.’ In May, France’s response to post-Brexit fishing restrictions around the island of Jersey was described as ‘pretty close to an act of war’ by fishing community leaders in St Helier. This week Jersey refused licences to 75 French fishing boats. The UK said it would consider further evidence to support remaining bids for fishing rights See

Numerous factors are pointing to a presidential meltdown. At home, Biden’s handling of the pandemic attracted growing criticism during a summer Covid surge. There has been continuing mistreatment of Mexico border migrants, which he promised to end. A Biden-backed police reform bill, prompted by George Floyd’s death, was rejected in Congress. His reputation for foreign policy competence was shattered by the Afghan withdrawal and deaths of Americans and Afghans. The row with France over a US-UK-Australia defence pact deepened disillusion over his commitment to multilateralism. While international perceptions matter, it is Americans who will make or break this presidency. Before next year’s midterm elections, Mr Biden wishes to enact an extraordinarily ambitious legislative agenda including a $3.5tn social spending plan and a $1.1tn infrastructure package. A new survey gives Donald Trump a 48% favourability rating to Biden’s 46%.

Christians in Parliament met two days before the cabinet reshuffle and the theme of their service was ‘hope in waiting’. Their worship was based on Psalm 86. With this in mind we can base our prayers for our new and established cabinet members on that psalm: ‘Father among the gods, there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. You created every nation and have a purpose for each one. You created these islands and raised up leaders through generations. We lift today’s leaders to You and pray that each one will bring glory to Your name. Teach each cabinet member Your way forward, help those who are in new offices to humbly learn and quickly grow into the new role you have prepared for them. Lord, inspire their decisions. May the Christians in Parliament continually have Your insights as they rely on You to do marvellous deeds in the coming months and years.’

Deterioration of democratic policies in the Palestinian leadership has caused a coalition of nongovernmental organisations to call it ‘political corruption.’ For years this coalition, named AMAN, focused on administrative and financial corruption. Now the eroding integrity of the Palestinian leadership has forced Transparency International to tackle a corrupt political system that among other things cancelled a long-overdue national election and ordered its security forces to harm a Hebron critic, that led to his death. They have also violently cracked down on demonstrations calling for accountability. An AMAN manifesto recently called Palestinians to reject the anti-democratic slippery slope and ‘fight this political corruption by creating a coalition that can contribute toward a more honest governance structure.’ If the current political corruption is not checked, Palestine will move into a dangerous zone.