MPs confirm public order law reform
14 Feb 2013MPs have confirmed that a controversial public order law that criminalises ‘insulting’ words or behaviour will be reformed to give greater freedom of speech. The move follows the Government giving way on the issue last month, after a vote in the House of Lords. The bid to change the law was spearheaded by Reform Section 5 – a campaign supported by The Christian Institute, the National Secular Society, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and others. Reacting to the news, Simon Calvert, the Campaign Director for Reform Section 5 (RS5), said it was ‘a great victory for free speech’. He also commented: ‘This is a fulfilment of the Home Secretary’s promise to accept the amendment, which was passed by the House of Lords in December. We can now say, officially, that Reform Section 5 has achieved its goal. The amendment cannot now be overturned, and so will become law later this year.’
Pray: that the outworking of this bill will bring a greater freedom of speech. (1Pet.3:10)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/mps-confirm-public-order-law-reform-in-free-speech-victory/
Religious education in schools is to come under attack in a report which will warn that more than half of those who teach the subject do not have any expertise. A cross-party group of MPs, peers and bishops will claim that “a raft of recent policies” have undermined the teaching of RE in schools. Their report, includes a survey of 430 schools, which found that 10 out of 130 secondary schools broke the law by not teaching RE to some pupils. In a quarter of the primary schools surveyed, pupils were being taught by teaching assistants, rather than qualified teachers, while 43 per cent of staff teaching RE in primary and secondary schools did not have any specialist training in the subject. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education described its findings as “unacceptable”. “A raft of recent policies have had the effect of downgrading RE in status on the school curriculum, and the subject is now under threat as never before.
Pray: for those with control over the content of schools' curriculum will recognise the vital importance of R.E. In our multicultural and multi-faith society. (Dt.6:5-8)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9934940/MPs-attack-Governments-downgrading-of-religious-education.html
MP: Do not pray in the House of Commons
17 Feb 2011
A Conservative MP has said the House of Commons should stop saying prayers at the start of its proceedings. The contentious proposal could, Jo Johnson MP said, ‘save three or four minutes every day’ and would better reflect the UK. Another Tory MP, Peter Bone, challenged this claim, saying a recent poll showed ‘75 per cent of British people thought that they were Christians’. Jo Johnson, the MP for Orpington, said ‘I am not against going to church, which is something that people should feel free to do, but it is something that MPs should be encouraged to do in their own time’. The MP is the brother of Boris, the Mayor of London. Last year the Mayor backed prayers in Parliament, saying it was helpful for both believers and non-believers. Pray: that our MPs would reject this move to restrict prayer and give God at least three or four minutes every day. (Mk.12:17)
MP wants to force churches into same-sex unions
15 Sep 2011A member of David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions. ‘As long as religious groups can refuse to preside over ceremonies for same-sex couples, there will be inequality,’ wrote Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, in an August 21 letter to Cameron. While Weatherley’s proposal is currently a ‘minority view,’ it ‘could quickly become a main stream point of view,’ warned Neil Addison, national director of the UK‘s Thomas More Legal Centre. The UK‘s 2004 Civil Partnership Act, which legalized same-sex unions, forbade them from being performed in religious venues or from using religious imagery. But Cameron’s Coalition government has proposed an amendment to the 2010 Equality Act that would allow churches and other religious venues to perform same-sex unions if they choose.
Pray: that this proposal would not gain support within parliament and lead to a further erosion to God’s laws. (2Ki.17:37)
More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/british-mp-urges-government-to-force-churches-into-same-sex-unions
MP demands law to remove gang videos
21 Nov 2011Lewisham East Labour MP Heidi Alexander is putting forward a Private Member's Bill to force YouTube and other websites to take down videos which could encourage gang violence. "At the moment we have a situation where these appalling videos proliferate on the Internet, They act as a recruitment mechanism for gangs and they glorify guns and knives.” She said that both the Government and the police needed to "wake up" to the threat posed by the videos. "If the Government is serious about bringing an end to serious youth violence, then they need to tackle the ways in which young people get caught up in gangs in the first place,” Many of the videos, she said, are filmed in daylight on housing estates across London, and are watched by thousands of people. The bill would give courts the power to order Internet service providers to "remove certain material which incites gang violence".
Pray: for this and other initiatives aimed at reducing gang culture and violence. (Ps.7:9)
MP calls for reform of UK abortion law
01 Mar 2012Following an undercover investigation into abortion by the Daily Telegraph, Nadine Dorries MP has called for a reform of UK abortion law. The investigation uncovered the practice of gender selective abortions in a number of clinics, and has cast a wider question over how or even whether abortion laws are being followed. Ms Dorries has now suggested that the Abortion Act 1967 needs changing as it is ‘a badly drafted piece of legislation’. Under the Act, abortion is illegal unless it falls within certain exemptions. Under Grounds C, which is the exemption most often used, abortion may only be performed if continuing the pregnancy puts the mother’s (or her existing children’s) mental and physical health at greater risk than if she has an abortion. Yet critics have claimed that there is little evidence to suggest that this is a correct assumption in most cases, and that we now have abortion on demand in practice.
Pray: that serious consideration be given to reforming this abortion law. (Heb.7:12)
More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/abortion/mp-calls-for-reform-of-uk-abortion-law
Mourners pay tribute to murdered vicar
02 Apr 2012Hundreds of people have paid their last respects to Reverend John Suddards found stabbed to death in the hallway of his vicarage on St Valentine's day. On Saturday he was given a last goodbye in the church where he was installed as priest only eight-and-a-half months ago. The news of his death sent shock waves through the clergy and the close-knit community in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, about 11 miles north of Bristol. Speaking ahead of the service, The Venerable Geoffrey Sidaway, Archdeacon of Gloucester, paid tribute to Mr Suddards. He said that since Mr Suddards's death, the town had come together to support each other. He said, ' This service today and in about three weeks time the vicarage, up to this point has been a crime scene, will be having a service of prayer and blessing to open up the vicarage again. Hopefully in the summer we'll move to appoint a new priest to Thornbury.'
Pray: for John's family and congregation and for healing and new blessings in the parish. (Isa.57:19)
Almost two-thirds of parents responding to a survey said their children did not take part in collective worship at school every day, it was revealed. Secondary schools are far more likely to shun the traditional requirement which has been compulsory in the state system since the Second World War. The disclosure – in research commissioned by the BBC – will add weight to growing calls to drop the legislation. It comes after a delegation of teachers, secularists and religious leaders wrote to Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, last year insisting children should not be ‘coerced’ into religion in schools. Under the 1944 Education Act, schools must provide ‘broadly Christian worship’ every day. Parents have the right to pull children out of religious assemblies but the power is not extended to pupils themselves.
Pray: that schools will not keep ignoring this law and pray that the authorities will enforce it. (Pr.6:23)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8743072/Most-schools-shunning-law-on-Christian-assemblies.html