Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Revd Naomi Nixon, CEO of the Student Christian Movement, has criticised the Government's plans to get English university students home before Christmas. This was in reaction to a travel window, between 3 and 9 December, for students to go home in evacuation-styled staggered time slots. In-person teaching is also due to end. She said the procedure is brutal and confusing; treating students differently from everyone else in society. What if students have exams after the cut-off date, or live off-campus? Are students living in regular housing and streets to be treated differently from other people living in that street travelling at Christmas? Will students who have expensive train or plane tickets falling outside the travel window be refunded? There will be students isolating after a positive test, and students who have left foster care and are now 18 with nowhere to go.

The ‘Haulier Handbook’ (to prevent Brexit border meltdown) is a guide to the mountain of new red tape required to transport goods across borders. It was promised in early September but will now not be fully available until 7 December, three weeks before it is needed. Logistics UK, representing freight groups, warned that time is running out to prevent ‘lorry queues at Dover and empty shelves in Northern Ireland’ when the transition period ends in 50 days’ time. ‘With the economy still reeling from handling the impact of Covid-19, the last thing UK plc needs is another major shock of our own making,’ said the Logistics director of policy. Construction of border inspection posts for checks on animal products crossing the Irish Sea has not yet started, and will take up to six months to complete.

UK doctors have been warned the second coronavirus wave will be ‘gruelling professionally and personally’ with increased pressure throughout the winter. NHS chiefs and all four British medical officers have written to medics urging them to brace for a ‘prolonged’ Covid-19 outbreak over the coming weeks or even months. Healthcare professionals will have to be flexible, which ‘may entail working in unfamiliar circumstances or surroundings, or working in clinical areas outside of their usual practice.’ Their warning comes as Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing that England’s lockdown will not be extended. He insisted, ‘When the current national measures come to an end on 2 December, we will be returning to a regional tiered approach.’ Pray for rapid tests to speed up a return to normal life. Pray for God to inspire peace and remove the fear caused by continual negative media updates. Also, pray for the encouragement caused by news of the Pfizer vaccine to become reality.

The inquiry into gambling laws promised in the election manifesto should have begun this month. But the culture and media department now says it is ‘not imminent’. The UK betting industry has seen revenues surge to £14.5billion a year because of lax regulations and more gambling on smartphones. Not getting this review under way now will be a matter of life and death for hundreds of families. Two gambling addicts take their own life every day, with many more left bankrupt. One in ten children admit gambling with their own money. The Government is under pressure to curb advertising, prevent punters spending thousands online, and help the 55,000 children suffering from addiction. Richard Holden, a Tory member of a Commons committee which has investigated gambling, said, ‘The fact that the most senior civil servant in the culture department now seems to be backing away from getting the gambling review started is very worrying.’

Mariam Mbula is currently senior pastor with Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church (SPAC Nation). Its leaders, including Mariam, encourage young congregants to take out loans and give huge sums to the church. The church was founded by Tobi Adegboyega, who is worth 2.5million and drives a £150,000 Rolls-Royce - number plate PA5TOR. An investigation is under way into fraud allegations and offences relating to individuals associated with SPAC. The church denies financially exploiting young people, saying it has a ‘robust complaints procedure’ and ‘well-run disciplinary system’ and ‘is not responsible for what goes on inside individual leaders' or members' houses’. It attracts large numbers of BAME and helps them leave a life of gangs, drugs and knife crime. For a documentary, see For background, see

Negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU are expected to continue next week as the deadline draws nearer. The two sides resumed talks in London this week, with a UK government source saying they were in the ‘final stage’. But big gaps still remain, and the UK described the EU’s position on fishing access as ‘wholly unrealistic’. Boris Johnson is prepared to move forward without a deal. If nothing is agreed, the UK will trade with the bloc on World Trade Organisation rules - leading to tariffs on many imports and exports, which could push up costs for businesses and consumers. Both sides say they want to avoid this outcome, but the EU will not do a deal ‘at any price’. Mr Johnson said the UK will prosper either way.

Captain Sir Tom Moore raised £33m for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday. Now in the second lockdown, he has launched a new campaign to get people walking to help support those who feel ‘lonely and frightened’ during the lockdown. His daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore said the family had been ‘given an incredible gift of a voice and platform to do powerfully positive things’. Sir Tom said, ‘We are in a difficult situation, but we'll get through it if we all join together.’ The challenge encourages people to log their walking on social media using the hashtag #WalkWithTom over the next week. He hopes to raise money for his foundation, which aims to combat loneliness and support those facing bereavement. Pray that this initiative will raise not only money but also public awareness of lockdown loneliness that leads to ill health. See also the next article, on mental health challenges.

42 mental health experts have warned that lockdown will trigger a spike in suicide, self-harm, alcoholism and domestic abuse. In an open letter to the Government, they said the longer the lockdown lasts, the worse this 'collateral damage' will be. Consultant psychologist Dr Keri Nixon, an expert in trauma and domestic abuse, said, 'The lockdown is supposed to prevent deaths from Covid. But it's also certain to cause further deaths, not only from other physical diseases like cancer but from poor mental health which has been worsening this year. It will also lead to intense loneliness and depression in older people: these are killer conditions, closely linked to poor physical health. Ironically, this will make them all the more vulnerable to Covid.' The letter calls for replacing lockdowns with 'focused protection' of the vulnerable. Each of the letter's claims are backed by peer-reviewed academic studies.

The UK terrorism threat has been upgraded to ‘severe’ after terror attacks in Vienna and France. This is its second-highest level, meaning that an attack is ‘highly likely’. Previously it was simply deemed ‘likely’. Home secretary Priti Patel said people should be alert but not alarmed, as it is a precautionary measure following the horrific events in Europe recently. The tipping point was the attack in Austria’s capital, where five people died in a country not known for being targeted by Islamists. It is well established that terror attacks in one country encourage copycats elsewhere. Pray for people to remain vigilant but not under any cloud of fear, and to report suspicious activity to the police without any fearful thoughts of crying ‘wolf’. Pray for MI5 and all security services monitoring suspected Islamist extremists.