Displaying items by tag: Politics

Rishi Sunak’s rise to Prime Minister was on the front pages of most of India’s newspapers. The Evangelical Alliance said his appointment would reflect Britain's religious diversity. ‘As a nation, we celebrate freedom of religion and belief and it's important that we're able to recognise different people's religious beliefs and how they practise it. We should be encouraged that people are free to practise different beliefs, but in the same way, that we should stand for the freedom to practise our own religion.’ There are calls for a period of a ‘quiet, stable government’ under Rishi Sunak. Christian Conservative MP John Glen who has known Mr Sunak since 2014, said he believes Sunak has the integrity, drive and intelligence to restore the UK's reputation after the political and financial turmoil of recent weeks.

Teaching organisations have asked the prime minister for free school meals to be given to children in households on universal credit. Jamie Oliver said the rule change would help 800,000 of the ‘most vulnerable’ children. However the call comes as government departments prepare for spending cuts, saying they had already expanded access to free school meals more than any other government in recent decades. A letter signed by leaders of 12 unions representing a million teaching staff, governors and school trustees across the UK warns the prime minister, the chancellor and the education secretary that ‘hunger is a real issue in our schools, too many families are struggling to afford school meals. Families receiving universal credit, or any equivalent benefit should be eligible as an immediate first step. Not doing so would undermine all the education workforce efforts to tackle inequalities’.

The Czech EU presidency is proposing an annual minimum on the number of asylum seekers EU states are willing to relocate. The idea is part of bigger discussions on solidarity sharing, a concept eluding member states when it comes to EU-wide migration and asylum reforms. A Czech presidency paper is proposing either 5,000 or 10,000 voluntary relocations annually as suggestions to gauge what EU states are willing to accept. That debate feeds into an overhaul of the EU's asylum and migration laws proposed by the 2020 European Commission. The solidarity ideas are among many that have sought to create some sort of balance with what the EU has coined flexible responsibility. It is not immediately clear if EU states will agree to the Czech presidency idea. Should they fall short, it will be up to the next EU presidency under Sweden to try to find a solution.

Plymouth Christian MP Sir Gary Streeter called on the Conservative party to replace Liz Truss, saying the party should ‘swiftly’ change the leader to someone who can gather more respect in the parliamentary party. ‘IWe are witnessing what happens when authority breaks down’, he said. ‘My message to my colleagues is, even if the Archangel Gabriel were to lead us this week and rediscover a sense of teamwork, mutual respect and discipline, you know this is going to happen again and again unless we sort ourselves out.’ Shortly after he said this Liz Truss resigned, saying she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected. This kickstarts a contest to find the next Tory leader and PM, which should produce a result by 28 October. Tory party members will have a say unless MPs unite around one candidate. Truss's departure after 45 days in office makes her the shortest-serving PM in UK history. See next article, on Conservative chaos.

On 17 October Jeremy Hunt reversed 60% of the promised recent tax cuts and committed to reduce the two-year energy price guarantee to six months, while introducing ‘a new approach’ to the most needy after winter. A cut in basic income tax rate, promised by two chancellors this year, was cancelled. Pray for adequate advice and aid for those facing staggering rises in the cost of living. The changes caused political turmoil. On 18 October, senior aide Jason Stein was suspended for leaking information to the media. Next, home secretary Suella Braverman resigned because she had broken the ministerial code, and attacked Ms Truss's leadership in her resignation letter. Grant Shapps, who six weeks ago was sacked as transport secretary, replaced her. On the 19th an attempted fracking ban sparked havoc when rebellious Tories were threatened with party expulsion if they didn’t back Liz Truss. See the previous article, PM resigns.

55-year-old Jeremy Hunt, a Christian, had previously been former foreign secretary and health secretary. He is a big supporter of the cause of freedom of religion or belief. In 2018, while foreign secretary, he commissioned an independent review into Foreign Office support for persecuted Christians. The report, by the Bishop of Truro, presented 22 recommendations for the Government to make changes in policy and practice to protect freedom of religion and belief around the world. Mr Hunt goes to church on Sundays and sometimes receives communion at a midweek lunch-hour celebration in the House of Commons. Asked about his faith in 2019, he said, ‘I sometimes pray, like regular Church of England folk: it's part of my life and my identity, but I don't think it defines my politics.’

The polls on 18 November are a year earlier than scheduled after years of political upheaval and the first since the voting age was lowered to 18. The shaky coalition government of prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is attempting to win a solid mandate to end the political manoeuvring that has seen three prime ministers in nearly as many years. Elections for assemblies will also be held in some of the country’s 13 states. About 21 million people are eligible to vote. The 2018 election saw the United Malays National Organisation lose power for the first time in sixty years, amid public anger over the multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at the state fund. Voters are anxious about rising prices and higher interest rates, as well as the jostling for power among politicians.

Liz Truss is coming under more pressure from some of her own MPs to rethink the tax cuts announced in last month's mini-budget. Paul Goodman, the editor of ‘Conservative Home’, a political blog, says MPs are considering alternatives to her as leader. Foreign secretary James Cleverly says Truss is sticking with her plan and removing her as PM would be disastrous. Her strategy was criticised when she attended a meeting of Tory backbenchers on 12 October. One MP accused her of wrecking 10 years of Conservative policies aimed at helping working people. Truss has repeatedly defended the proposed tax cuts, funded by borrowing, which were outlined last month. During PMQs she also pledged not to make any cuts to public spending. Pray for her as she presses on after a tumultuous first month in office. Pray for party divisions to be repaired with wise decisions. Pray for any necessary changes to be made and unnecessary options to be avoided.

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused by Nadhim Zahawi of using ‘really dangerous’ language after she decried the Tories at last week’s Scottish National Party conference. Addressing whether she would prefer a Labour or Tory government, Ms Sturgeon said, ‘I detest the Tories and everything they stand for, so it's not difficult to answer that question’. On Labour politicians, she commented, ‘Being better than the Tories is not a high bar to cross right now. I think we need to see more of a radical alternative from Labour rather than just a pale imitation’. Ian Murray, Labour's shadow Scottish secretary, said the next electoral contest in Scotland will be a UK general election between this rotten Tory government and a new energised Labour Party fit to govern the country. Pray for our politicians to demonstrate the Kingdom values of honour, righteousness and integrity, and that they all will be united with God-given insights.

The day after the Prime Minister said she was committed to the 45p income tax cut which Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had announced ten days earlier, he reversed the decision, saying the plans had become a ‘distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing the country’. A few hours later former culture secretary Nadine Dorries accused the Prime Minister of ‘throwing her Chancellor under a bus’, and called for a general election. Having backed Liz Truss for Tory leadership, she now said the PM ‘must take to the country’ if she wants a new mandate, adding that there was ‘widespread dismay’ that much of the work she had done while in office was now on hold. Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt called for benefits to be increased in line with inflation - a move promised under Boris Johnson's government. Liz Truss has said her priority is ‘growth, growth, growth’ and she will challenge anyone trying to stop it.