Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Government exists to serve the people, but as Conservatives gathered in Birmingham for their last party conference before leaving the EU, relationships between government members were fraught. Many media interviews at the conference were about Brexit rather than about government policy. Divisions over Europe caused MPs to be focused on internal debates; but as they face the Brexit challenge they need to be outward-facing to negotiate in good faith. Dominic Raab summed up the controversies: ‘I’ll tell you what’s not democracy: the efforts of a small, influential group of senior politicians and establishment figures to overturn the result of the referendum. You can just picture them, sitting in an expensive advertising agency, discussing how to claim that black is white. “Our research shows that the public doesn’t like the idea of a second referendum. That’s all right - we’ll rebrand it a people’s vote. They might buy that.”’

Liberty, a leading human rights group, is urging Nottingham City Council to scrap ‘cruel’ proposals which could criminalise the area’s most vulnerable people. Liberty said the council’s proposed Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) ‘punishes charitable acts in a bid to airbrush their streets’; the proposals would ‘essentially ban homelessness’, in a move which ignores Home Office guidance. PSPOs are drawn up by local councils to prevent anti-social behaviour, deemed detrimental to the area’s quality of life. Nottingham plans to prohibit members of the public from making ‘unauthorised requests’ for money, personal items, or other donations, and would also ban obstruction of building entrances and exits. It could be a criminal offence to give out free items to someone unknown. Those in breach of the PSPO could be fined up to £100, and offenders could be prosecuted if unable to pay.

The use of restraints on adults with learning disabilities in hospital units in England rose by 50% between 2016 and 2017. Former social care minister Norman Lamb said the use of restraint was ‘shameful’. The Department of Health said it was committed to reducing the use of restrictive force in hospitals. The data, covering both adults and children, also revealed that patient-on-patient assaults rose from 3,600 to more than 9,000 over the same period, and instances of face-down restraint, banned by government guidelines, increased to 3,100. Pray for more finances to be available to ensure that vulnerable people receive the safe support that meets their various social care needs. Pray for better training for those working with adults and children with challenging behaviour and moderate or severe learning disabilities.

MPs and campaigners have criticised the decision to allow the Sex Workers’ Outreach Project (Swop) to have a stall on the University of Brighton’s Eastbourne campus over the three days of Freshers' Fair. Writer and campaigner Julie Bindel, who has written widely on prostitution, called the move ‘disgraceful’ and demanded an enquiry. Labour MP Sarah Champion tweeted her outrage at the decision. Swop defended its attendance in a tweet (that was later deleted) saying, ‘Rising living and tuition costs mean that more students than ever are turning to sex work, and Swop believe that they deserve our help. Sex work is work.’ CARE’s spokesperson said, ‘Swop’s inclusion at Freshers’ Fair is irresponsible. It normalises and glamourises prostitution, showcasing it as a harmless option to alleviate student debt, and sending damaging messages to vulnerable students, many of whom are away from home for the first time.’

A CofE working party has drafted ‘A Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing’, and are inviting people to comment on it. The 'Big Conversation' about clergy care will aim to prevent burnout in church leaders, who are always ‘on duty’ in a job that could never be 9 to 5. The draft document sets out some ways of changing the culture of the Church to enable the care and wellbeing of its clergy to be more fully addressed.

There will be a prayer meeting on 6 October in West Ham overlooking the site of a radical Islamic group’s proposed ‘mega-mosque’. Three years ago the Government refused the appeal of the Anjuman-e-islahul-Muslimeen Trust against Newham Council’s decision not to grant them planning permission for the development, which would be the largest place of worship in Britain. Legally, Newham could now send in the bulldozers. But this decision will be taken by new mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, whose election promise to ‘tax the value of development land to help our housing programme’ could impact the trustees of the site. An option open to the trust is a new planning application for mixed use, not for using the site as a place of worship, but instead they are going to the European Court of Human Rights to try to keep alive their dream.

The UK government is demanding action from the EU amid strong frustration over the lack of proposals from Brussels on a post-Brexit relationship. Speaking to CNBC recently, several members of the Government appeared frustrated about the EU’s attitude. Chris Grayling said, ‘At the moment, it is very much a question of Europe responding with its proposals. Currently there is nothing on the table.’ Trade secretary Liam Fox said it is the EU's ‘duty’ to help the UK and put forward their proposals. ‘They said they were not very happy with what the UK offered; in which case let them bring forward their own proposals. Under Article 50 we have the right to leave the EU, and they have a duty to help us in that future relationship. Let's see them now deliver what they promised to do in that treaty.’

Dutch military intelligence disrupted a Russian cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The attack, which was thwarted with the help of British officials, came after Russia had also attempted remote attacks on on the UK Foreign Office in March and the Porton Down chemical weapons facility in April. Both attacks were unsuccessful. The Dutch defence minister said that four Russian intelligence officials from the GRU’s cybercrime unit, known as Sandworm, had been expelled from the Netherlands after being caught spying on the chemical weapons body in April. Jeremy Hunt said that a number of hackers widely known to have been conducting attacks around the world were covers for Russia’s GRU intelligence service, and their attacks had been undertaken with the consent and knowledge of the Kremlin. A Russian spokeswoman dismissed the hacking accusations as ‘big fantasies’.

Volunteer chaplain Paul Song has shared the gospel with inmates at Brixton prison since 1998. Many have become Christians. Last year, after a Muslim imam was appointed head chaplain, Pastor Song came under frightening opposition. Islamic militants attacked his classes and physically assaulted and abused him because of his faith. ‘My classes were often disrupted. At times inmates openly spoke in the chapel in support of IS and suicide bombers. There was nothing I could do about it. They spoke with such hatred of Britain that it was frightening.’ The imam said that the Christian material used by the pastor (and by churches throughout the world) was ‘too radical’, and called the pastor’s Christian views ‘extreme.’ He was dismissed, but a petition to reinstate him was signed by over 40,000 people. His case was reviewed and he has been reinstated.

Volunteer chaplain Paul Song has shared the gospel with inmates at Brixton prison since 1998. Many have become Christians. Last year, after a Muslim imam was appointed head chaplain, Pastor Song came under frightening opposition. Islamic militants attacked his classes and physically assaulted and abused him because of his faith. ‘My classes were often disrupted. At times inmates openly spoke in the chapel in support of IS and suicide bombers. There was nothing I could do about it. They spoke with such hatred of Britain that it was frightening.’ The imam said that the Christian material used by the pastor (and by churches throughout the world) was ‘too radical’, and called the pastor’s Christian views ‘extreme.’ He was dismissed, but a petition to reinstate him was signed by over 40,000 people. His case was reviewed and he has been reinstated.