This week, a High Court judge considered whether fresh evidence from the Mayor of London’s office shows that Boris Johnson personally ordered Transport for London to ban a bus advert by Christian charity Core Issues Trust (CIT), and whether he did so for an improper purpose during his re-election campaign in 2012. Mrs Justice Lang upheld the ban on the CIT slogan, ‘Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!’ at the original High Court hearing. (See also Prayer Alert 05-2014) Following the decision, CIT submitted a Freedom of Information request which revealed emails suggesting the Mayor had personally instructed TFL to ban the adverts. One email from the Mayor’s Director of Communications at the time, Guto Harri, states that the Mayor personally ordered the Christian advertisement to be pulled. CIT took the case to the Court of Appeal which sent it back to Mrs Justice Lang to consider the new email evidence which she had not seen at the first hearing.
A scathing report has prompted a call for a rethink of schools oversight as MP threatens to name council officials who took no action. A group of fundamentalist ‘activists’, mostly men of Pakistani origin, infiltrated the management of at least ten schools in Birmingham, sometimes breaking the law in order to introduce Muslim worship and sex segregation, according to a highly critical report. Their activities were unimpeded by council officials who were fearful of allegations of Islamphobia, and who forced ousted teachers to sign gagging clauses rather than treat their complaints seriously as whistleblowers, Ian Kershaw, the authority's independent adviser, concluded. Sir Albert Bore, leader of the city's Labour-run council, apologised on Friday to the people of Birmingham ‘for the way the actions of a few, including some within the council, have undermined the great reputation of our city’.
A woman who had an abortion at 39 weeks has prompted outrage from British politicians. The women in question allegedly terminated her pregnancy just days before her due date as her unborn child was considered at risk of being disabled. ‘I do not understand how we can have a law which allows the life of a baby with a disability to be ended at full term,’ Fiona Bruce, MP for Congleton and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-life Group, has commented. ‘It is a graphic illustration of society's inconsistency on disability. After birth we work hard to ensure equality, but before birth we have laws to prevent the disabled taking their first breath.’ MP Rob Flello added: ‘We have a Jekyll and Hyde approach to disability. On one hand the entire country can be united in praise of Paralympians. On the other we can permit the abortion of children at nine months simply for the crime of having a disability.
The Republic of Ireland is to investigate the homes for children born outside marriage and their mothers, run by religious institutions for most of the last century. It follows concerns over the deaths of almost 800 children at a convent-run mother-and-baby home in Galway over several decades and controversy about whether they were given proper burials. Mairead Enright of the Faculty of Law at the University of Kent said the inquiry could help to create a new Ireland in which the attitudes of shame and exclusion could never again be fostered. ‘There are plenty of people in Ireland not much older than me who remember girls who were sitting next to them in school who weren't there the next day because they'd got pregnant and they'd been shipped off somewhere,’ she said. ‘It has had influence on families, on how parents raised their daughters, on how women were perceived.’
Britain’s youth fighting in Syria
24 Jul 2014Last month two men from Cardiff and one from Aberdeen featured in an online recruitment video by Isis urging western Muslims to join the fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria. On Monday Theresa May warned the Home Secretary of the impact on families when loved ones join fighting. 400+ people from the UK have travelled to Iraq and Syria and a new campaign, Families Against Stress and Trauma (FAST) was launched this week urging people to stop their relatives from travelling to join wars. Mrs May said, ‘This campaign addresses one of the most significant issues facing communities up and down Britain – the extremely damaging effect of young people choosing to travel to Syria and Iraq.’ Mrs May added, 'I am clear, in relation to people who are going to Syria and returning as terrorists. The Government will take action.’
We give thanks for the Queen's Baton Relay and the many churches across Scotland who gave away Penny Gospels, shortbread medals and balloons, painted faces, served lunches and teas to demonstrate hospitality to thousands. Now More Than Gold 2014 invites us all to participate in prayer for events throughout the games:- the performance of Chariot, Luke’s Gospel; Fit for the King Holiday lubs; Holidays at Home for the elderly; Community Festivals; youth Cafes' Sports Quizzes; and give thanks for the hundreds of volunteers making this possible. 150,000+ bottles of water, Penny Gospels and other resources will be given away. Give thanks for the thousands of opportunities people will have to encounter the goodness of God throughout the games. Pray for Games Pastors and Police caring for visitors. Prayer request boxes will available for visitors and the requests will be prayed for by the Flourish team. Pray that many will ask for prayer and see God move as a result.
660 suspected paedophiles have been arrested as part of a six-month operation targeting people accessing child abuse images online. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the 660 included doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers. More than 400 children have been protected as a result, the agency said. Arrests were made across the UK and the majority of those held had no previous contact with police. The NCA said 39 of those arrested are registered sex offenders. Charges already brought range from possessing indecent images of children to serious sexual assault. The NCA stressed that none of those arrested is a serving or former MP or member of the Government.
Energy firm complaints hit record high
17 Jul 2014The number of customers complaining to the independent ombudsman about their energy bills has soared with more people making official complaints in the first six months of this year than the whole of last year put together. Official complaints more than doubled to 22,671 in the first six months of 2014 from 10,598 in the previous six months. The 2013 total was 17,960. Complaints to the ombudsman – who deals with disputes unresolved after at least eight weeks – also reached a record for one month at 4,124 in June, an increase of 216% on a year ago. Chief energy ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: ‘The spike in complaints is in part a result of the rising cost of living, but also as a result of consumers becoming more aware of their rights and feeling more empowered to act and fight for a fair deal. Addressing these concerns is crucial to restoring consumer confidence in the sector.’