Displaying items by tag: Government

Greenpeace activists unfolded 200 square metres of oil-black fabric over the home of Rishi Sunak and unfurled a banner saying ‘Oil Profits or Our Future?’ in front of the manor house, protesting against North Sea oil and gas drilling licences amidst a summer of escalating climate impacts. See Christian Aid warned the Government that issuing 100s of new oil and gas licences ‘flies in the face of climate science.’ They went on to state that ‘Now more than ever, UK’s Government must show leadership and strengthen their climate plans to protect millions in low-income countries. Instead, these wrongheaded priorities on new oil and gas licences obliterate the UK’s net-zero commitments and lets down people on the frontline of the climate crisis. The Prime Minister needs to put people and planet first.’ Pray for the government to acknowledge the calls from environmental campaigners and recognise that there needs to be an end to North Sea drilling.

An Ipsos poll of 1,087 people conducted between June 30 and July 3 suggests Rishi Sunak still has a long way to go to restore the Conservatives’ reputation for competence. Just 23% of people questioned said they think the Tories can run the country competently, while 57% said they cannot. The poll was not completely positive for Labour either, with the public divided on whether they like the Opposition’s policies. 27% say they do, 28% say they do not, and 25% say they don’t know much about them.

The Children's Society reports that parents spend on average £422 a year on secondary and £287 on primary uniforms, despite government rules meant to lower the costs. Schools requiring parents to buy costlier branded items were partly to blame. One mum said, ‘Constantly replacing damaged clothing makes it even more expensive’. Under changes to the Education Act last year, schools should be helping cut costs by promoting cheaper second-hand uniform options or removing unnecessary branded items from uniform lists. But pupils still must have an average of three branded uniform items. Almost 1/3rd of secondary school pupils must own four to five branded items, and 45% of parents said school uniform policies had still not been updated. Pray for more clothing banks like Reloved who provide pre-worn uniforms free to families struggling with costs. In 11 months it has supported 3,000 families, and demand is rising as the cost of living soars.

The secretary of state has announced that in October a new Health Services Safety Investigations Body will be formally established to commence a national investigation into mental health inpatient care settings. It will investigate a range of issues, including how young people with mental health needs can be better cared for, how providers can learn from tragic deaths that take place in their care, how out-of-area placements are handled, and how staffing models can be improved. The recommendations from this far-reaching investigation will help service providers to improve safety standards in mental health facilities across the country. Also a further £2.3 billion is being invested into the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England, so that two million more people can access crucial NHS-funded mental health support. Pray for this to ensure that mental health care facilities meet the highest safety standards. Pray for patients to be able to say they have faith in the care they receive.

As another scandal hits the Tory party, its MPs are even more gloomy about how the Prime Minister can project the government as honest and professional. MPs endorsed a report saying that Boris Johnson lied over Partygate. But 225 of Boris’s former Conservative MP colleagues were absent, including Rishi Sunak who has not said if he agrees or disagrees with the report’s findings. See Eight months into Boris’s leadership, he faced Covid. Eight months into Rishi’s leadership, he struggles to distance himself from the Conservative chaos and deliver a government of ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’ as he promised in October. A former cabinet minister said, ‘We can’t sell a vision to the public if Rishi doesn’t have one himself. He needs to think big, be creative, and articulate a dream the public will want to live by.’ Pray for Rishi Sunak to have heaven's wisdom in the current crisis.

The UK competition watchdog has launched a review of the artificial intelligence market, as it warned of threats from AI tools including the distribution of false or misleading information. This announcement comes as global regulators increase scrutiny of the technology, look at the underlying systems, and foundation models behind AI tools such as ChatGPT. The US vice-president invited the CEOs of leading AI firms to the White House on 5 April to discuss how to deal with the safety concerns around the technology in a week when hundreds of millions of pounds were wiped from the share price of UK’s education company Pearson after a US provider of online help to students revised its financial forecasts and warned ChatGPT was affecting customer growth. Global companies like Google, Apple and Amazon may have to pay penalties of up to 10% of their turnover as the Government gives its competition watchdog more power.

‘We are concerned by the ongoing conflict in Sudan and the effect this is having on the population’, commented Stephanie Draper, CEO of Bond, which represents 400 global bodies fighting poverty. ‘Some humanitarian workers are sheltering and will attempt to resume their work when it is safe to do so. We urge the UK government to deploy all the humanitarian and diplomatic levers at their disposal to support those in need when it is safe to do so.’ Caroline Duffield, a former international radio correspondent in Africa, said, ‘The decision on whether to stay or go is a matter for prayer and also for hope. It's just looking very, very difficult. People we've been in contact with ask us to pray that Christians remain hopeful and not give up on the possibility of a peaceful future for Sudan.’ Pray for God to give the Christians in Sudan strength, endurance and protection.

A judge has ruled that a planned strike at NHS workplaces across England must be shortened by a day. It will now end at midnight on 1 May, not 8pm on Tuesday 2 May. The Government had asked the High Court to assess if the last day of the planned action by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) fell outside their six-month mandate for strikes. The RCN general secretary said, ‘The full weight of government gave ministers this victory over nursing staff in the darkest day of this dispute. The government is taking its own nurses through the courts because of their simple expectation of a better pay deal. Nurses will be angered but not crushed by today’s order. It could make them more determined to vote in May’s re-ballot for another six months of strikes. Nobody wants strikes until Christmas. Today we should be in the negotiating room, not in the courtroom.’

On 27 April the Government unveiled its long-awaited white paper on gambling. The announcement of what it actually contains has been delayed at least four times since the review of gambling laws was first announced in 2020. Since then, there have been regular reports of individual cases of problem gamblers - but the government's solution has been crafted by three different culture secretaries without seeing the light of day. Current culture secretary Lucy Frazer says the rise of smartphones means ‘now there's a Las Vegas on every phone’ and believes she has a proposal which is suitable for the digital age. She said, ‘When gambling becomes an addiction, it wrecks lives. Gambling has always been measured in terms of money lost, but you cannot put a cost on the loss of dignity, loss of identity, and in some cases, loss of life that it can cause.’ Young gamblers could face a £2 slot machine limit: see

Christian parents and teachers are distressed by Relationship and Sex Education that is being welcomed into the classroom. Now a 130-page report of inappropriate sex lessons read by the PM has prompted a call for a review into Sex Education. We can pray for an end to primary school children learning about masturbation; for an end to drag queens telling secondary school children there are scores of different genders and asking what they feel about oral sex. Also, there is supposed to be a review of guidance for schools on transgenderism, which has been consistently delayed. Much of the inappropriate teaching and the harmful school culture stems from the gender identity ideology which underpins nearly all RSE resources, and which leads to schools socially transitioning pupils, often without parents' knowledge, for example, the book ‘My Shadow is Pink’ for 4-year-olds. Pray for parents to be allowed to see the materials which schools are using.