Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

A 57-year-old Muslim man has been arrested after stabbing two women in a Marks and Spencer store in Burnley. During the attack the man shouted anti-Semitic expletives. Whilst police say it is not being treated as a terror attack, a counter-terror team is investigating whether the double stabbing had a jihadist element. The injuries to the two women are serious but not life-threatening. Jewish News reports that the Community Security Trust, a charity charged with defending Jews in Britain, is working with police, but revealed few further details. The police said, ‘We recognise that this incident will have caused concern in the community. We have a dedicated team of officers and staff carrying out enquiries and extra patrols.’

An inspection found that England's second-largest police force had failed to record over 80,000 crimes in a year, and closed cases without proper investigation. About 220 crimes a day went unrecorded in the year up to June 2020. The inspectors said their service to victims of crime was a ‘serious cause of concern’. One in five of all crimes and one in four violent crimes reported were not recorded. Officers prematurely closed investigations because the victim did not support police action. Inspector Zoe Billingham said, ‘In too many cases the force did not properly record evidence, particularly in domestic abuse cases: seven in 10 were closed on this basis. Despite being urged in 2016 to improve, concerns have not been addressed. In their defence the police force said the inspection coincided with a troubled computer system and challenges during the Covid lockdown’. A further inspection will take place after six months.

The Agriculture Bill has now been finalised and received royal assent. The good news is the setting up of a trade and agriculture commission is to be included. Its purpose is to protect the UK's higher standards of environmental protection, animal welfare and food quality in farming and food production against imports produced to lower standards. The new legislation will bring substantial change in how farming and food production are supported; pray for our farmers as they adapt (Isaiah 28:24-29). See also

On 2 December England launched a three-tier system to combat virus spread, and the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was approved for use. It is hoped the tier system will help safeguard the gains made recently in containing the virus, and that the vaccines will ultimately make it possible for the nation to reclaim livelihoods and regain quality of life. However currently over 55 million people are in the strictest two tiers and cannot mix indoors with those in other households. Many feel their position in the tier system is unjust. Pray for a government review of the ‘human geography’ to be made sooner rather than later, so that adjustments can be made where appropriate to avoid unlawful tier crossing in the run-up to Christmas. Also pubs in tier two can only function as a restaurant and serve alcohol at the table with a substantial meal. Pray for the Government to give appropriate support to the struggling hospitality industry.

With the rollout of vaccines for Covid-19 now imminent, there are increasing concerns around misinformation (online or on social media) turning people against being immunised. The WHO says an overload of information, some false, makes it difficult for people to make decisions about their health. One participant in a coronavirus vaccine trial said, ‘It's often very difficult with the amount of information that we are being bombarded with to make sense of what you should be doing. I think a vaccine is one of the only ways out of the situation if we want to get away from endless lockdowns and curfews.’ Researchers have moved at record speed to develop vaccines, and the WHO is monitoring data from over 200 trials on several types of vaccine based on different technologies. They are going through the same safety tests as vaccines already used all around the world.

Disability History Month runs from 18 November to 18 December every year. It is supported by many disability groups, unions, and voluntary organisations, who aim to promote disabled people's rights and their struggle for equality now and in the past. Every year the month focuses on a different theme - celebrating achievements and fighting for equality. For instance, 14-year-old Jonathan is non-verbal and a wheelchair user who was in a special school until his mother taught him to read and write by eye pointing on a perspex E Tran and eye gaze software. Jonathan went to a mainstream primary in Year 5. When he was twelve, he wrote the book 'Eye Can Write' and set up a charity. Pray for continued backing and funding for all those sharing resources to help people with disabilities, and helping able-bodied people to understand the struggles that disabled people have.

Sadly, some rural chaplains report that recent months have seen an increase in levels of stress and tragically in suicides, especially amongst younger farmers. This has been a difficult farming year, with the impact of the pandemic, TB, and now an increasing risk of avian flu (see next article). With the uncertainties of isolated working and living conditions, people are stressed, vulnerable, feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. Pray for the work of chaplains and all those ministering to farming communities and families.

An avian influenza prevention zone has been declared across England, Scotland and Wales to reduce the risk of the disease spreading following a number of confirmed cases in recent weeks. This means that all bird keepers must follow strict biosecurity measures. Those with more than 500 birds now need to restrict access for non-essential people on their sites; workers must change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures, and site vehicles need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Backyard owners with smaller numbers of poultry including chickens, ducks and geese are also urged to strengthen their biosecurity measures in order to prevent further outbreaks of avian influenza in the UK. Public Health England said the risk to public health is very low, and the Food Standards Agency advises that ‘avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers’.

Christian Concern write, ‘The Government has announced a consultation to decide whether to extend its temporary decision to allow DIY abortions. Brandished as “women's healthcare”, abortions that take place entirely at home are dangerous, providing no opportunity to safeguard women against coercive partners or go through proper safety checks - ultrasound scans and blood tests. Tragically, we know that many illegal and dangerous abortions have taken place since the government introduced the policy in March 2020. We need to do everything we can to protect women and babies by stopping this policy from becoming permanent. A number of pro-life groups are participating in “Care for Women”, a parliamentary briefing for MPs to advise them on all of the research showing that this policy is dangerous and offers no care for women. Please ask your MP to attend the briefing on Thursday 10 December at 2pm, via Zoom.’ Find your MP:

Because of Brexit, the UK must submit its own national climate plan to the UN climate body. Nineteen church leaders have written to Boris Johnson asking him to set ambitious goals when he submits the country’s first climate plan under the Paris Agreement. This agreement commits countries to keeping temperature rises ‘well below’ 2C above pre-industrial levels, and pursuing efforts to limit them to 1.5C, which is seen as the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of climate change will be felt. The letter to the Prime Minister was signed by the CofE's bishop for the environment, Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, the Bishop of Salisbury; the Archbishop of Wales; and leaders from the Church of Scotland, the Baptist Union, Methodist Church, URC, and Quakers, as well as 57,000 others who believe the UK could be a true global leader.