Displaying items by tag: Economy

The shadow treasury minister Clive Lewis, in a newspaper interview, has said MPs must show leadership, and persuade consumers to make dramatic lifestyle changes, if devastating climate change and mass extinctions are to be averted. Cutting back on red meat and taking fewer flights are two of the ‘real, stark choices’ needed in the years ahead. Lewis said, ‘If you want your children and grandchildren to avoid food shortages, to avoid power shortages, to avoid biological degradation, biodiversity loss - if you actually want a planet that’s habitable - then we need to make some choices together, now, and some of them are about quite dramatic changes to how we live.’

The UK will join Italy next year as the slowest-growing economy in Europe, before holding that title alone in 2020, according to a European Commission forecast. These gloomy predictions are based on a soft Brexit - meaning that Britain is expected to lag behind all its EU peers even if Theresa May can reach a deal with Brussels before 29 March.  The commission expects consumer spending growth to remain weak, continuing a poor performance since the June 2016 referendum. The result will be GDP growth of only 1.2% in 2019 and 2020. The forecast came as the IMF sounded the alarm over the mounting risks to the European economy from a no-deal Brexit, the escalation of trade disputes around the world, and high levels of Italian government debt.

Wages are rising and unemployment rates are at their lowest for more than 40 years, so these should be boom times for young people. However, rising rents, bills and living expenses mean that one in five aged 25-34 will spend over 60% of their pay on payday. A further 3% find themselves in the red. Meanwhile, house prices in England have risen by 173% over the last 20 years, and around a quarter of 20-34-year-olds still live with their parents - with slim chances of owning a home any time soon. Those living in rented accommodation find high rents eating up income, making it impossible to save for a deposit on a home. Pray for Philip Hammond as he prepares next week’s budget. May the undetonated timebomb of Brexit have no adverse influence on his proposals, and may they give opportunities for economic growth and prosperity for young and old alike in the nation’s future.

‘I am sure that in the Arabian peninsula there are easily ten million Christians’, says Bill Schwartz, OBE, Anglican Archdeacon in the Gulf and Chaplain of Qatar. Most notable is how the region’s religious mix has shifted in a totally unprecedented way, as foreign workers have flooded in to benefit from the explosion of jobs. Today, at least 50% of migrants and expatriates ‘have some kind of Christian tradition’. In Qatar, where foreign workers outnumber locals by ten to one, there are now more Catholics than Muslims. New church buildings are being built, including one in Abu Dhabi to accommodate 5,000 people at a time. There is opportunity for Christian witness in societies that have been culturally isolated for thousands of years. Schwartz says, ‘I have more opportunities to talk about faith in the Gulf than I ever do in the US, because religion is so important here.’

On Wednesday Philip Hammond delivered his first Budget as Chancellor. He said that the Treasury's priority was ‘making sure that our economy is resilient and that we’ve got reserves in the tank’ as the Government prepares to begin Brexit negotiations. Some of the key points were: - extra money for new free schools in England, which could include grammar schools - significant spending on social care - £5m fund to mark next year's centenary of women first getting the vote - cash to alleviate the impact of increased business rates on firms - £500m support for electric vehicles, robotics and artificial intelligence. The decision which has attracted the most criticism is an increase in national insurance contributions by self-employed people. The debate goes on, and the media discussions will help Christians to digest and intercede wisely in the coming days. In the midst of change and challenge, we can pray for the United Kingdom to step into a new level of governing that is led by God’s Holy Spirit at every level.

In a confident and hard-hitting speech on Tuesday, Theresa May spoke of a ‘bold’ approach to the UK’s Brexit negotiations. She said that the UK will leave the European single market, retake control of immigration, strike its own trade deals, and refuse to be bound by rulings from the European Court of Justice. She also confirmed that MPs will put the final deal to a vote in both Houses of Parliament. In reaction to her speech, which one commentator described as ‘some of the most important words she will ever utter’, the value of the pound jumped sharply as traders were reassured that a firm strategy is now in place. However, others were much more critical, with a number of European leaders accusing the PM of attempting to ‘blackmail’ the EU. Also, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that a second Scottish referendum on independence is now ‘all but inevitable’; her government has repeatedly stressed its desire to stay in the EU single market. See