Displaying items by tag: London

Thursday, 06 August 2020 23:12

Far-right group training centre in London

Paul Golding, the leader of the far-right group Britain First, is setting up a ‘training centre’ in London where recruits will be ‘drilled’ and taught ‘self-defence techniques’. Mr Golding has a string of public order convictions and offences under the Terrorism Act by representing the very far right wing of UK politics, bordering on fascistic tendencies. A lawyer specialising in terrorism cases said it is worrying that somebody with a history of public order issues and causing alarm to a particular community is setting up an organised training facility. Mr Golding said that because of their political opponents and extremist jihadi Islamist movements, they need their security department to be highly trained and professional. ‘Trained to do their job. Just like a firefighter.’

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 25 June 2020 22:26

Brixton - 22 police injured overnight

On the night of 24 June, police officers were summoned to Brixton, following residents’ complaints about noise and violence at an illegal street party. A dispersal order had been put in place that day, so the police tried to encourage the crowd to leave. The event continued, more officers arrived, and the group became hostile. Social media showed officers being chased and assaulted by an angry crowd During the clashes, 22 officers were injured, two hospitalised, police vehicles damaged, and four people were arrested. The London mayor said, ‘Large gatherings during Covid-19 are deeply irresponsible and risk others' lives.’ A vast number of residents not taking part in the disorder were disturbed all night by the noise. We can pray that the police are able to identify and arrest all who caused the chaos.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 09 April 2020 21:40

Pray for Boris Johnson

At the time of writing, Boris Johnson is still in hospital, but out of intensive care and 'responding to treatment' after contracting coronavirus and not improving in isolation at home. The Archbishop of Canterbury urged Britain to pray for Boris and thanked the NHS in the country's fight against coronavirus. Boris is being closely monitored by a top lung doctor and his fever has eased while he remains clinically stable. He has been sitting up in bed and engaged positively with the clinical team, although not yet working. He can contact those he needs to as lockdown rules are discussed at this critical time. The NHS medical director warned, ‘Now is not the time to become complacent’. Downing Street hopes that Boris is over the worst of the infection. Pray for health and God’s healing to touch his body. Pray for God to impact his immune system.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 02 April 2020 23:19

Nightingale hospital

It has taken just one week to build Britain’s first coronavirus field hospital, in London’s Dockland. It will treat up to 4,000 previously fit and healthy people struck down by coronavirus. London patients in need of intensive care but with the best chance of survival will be taken to the Nightingale hospital, which has been constructed inside the ExCel arena. For a time-lapse viewing of the conversion progress, click the ‘More’ button. Please pray for God to fill the building with His peace. May every patient referred there know His comfort, as the divine physician and healer of the sick watches over every bed. Pray for every nurse, doctor, paramedic and auxiliary to have the protection and the stamina that comes from heaven, and ask God to give wisdom and discernment to every doctor as they make life and death decisions.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 26 March 2020 23:46

City missions and homeless

London City Mission cares for sick and marginalised Londoners. Pray for churches in lockdown as they adapt to share the gospel of light in the darkness of this crisis. May Christians be beacons of light so that God’s grace is apparent in London and the nation. Pray for people like Kris, homeless and a Big Issue vendor, who can’t sell his magazines and relies on one meal a day. Pray for provisions to be made for the homeless in lockdown A Glasgow homeless shelter had to close when a staff member and a service user caught coronavirus. They tried to prevent people from being left without shelter, but those with insecure immigration status or complex background issues are sleeping on the streets after the council said they did not have a statutory duty to accommodate them. Pray for councils and police to care for self-isolating homeless. See

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 26 March 2020 23:39

London hospitals - tsunami' of coronavirus cases

Hospitals in London are facing a ‘tsunami’ of coronavirus cases and are beginning to run out of intensive care beds. Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, said that while critical care capacity had been expanded, hospitals in the capital had seen an ‘explosion’ in demand. A third of the UK cases have been diagnosed in the city. Staff absence rates due to infection are at 30% to 50%, as hospitals desperately struggle with wave after wave of seriously ill patients. Mr Hopson said an extra 4,000 beds soon to be available at London’s ExCel centre will be used up very quickly in the peak, which is two or three weeks away. From April all routine operations will be cancelled for three months, and as many patients as possible will be discharged from hospital. These two measures could free up 30,000 of the 100,000 hospital beds in England alone.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 06 February 2020 22:48

Media, faith, and belonging

A recent report has looked at different aspects of belief and belonging in London. It finds that inaccurate, sensationalised and simplistic coverage by the media reinforces negative stereotypes of religious groups, increasing the potential for suspicion, fear and communal violence. The report recommends that journalists and editors improve their religious literacy and engagement with local faith groups to understand how religion works in practice. It calls on newsrooms to provide better access to religious and ethnic minority journalists, and more spaces for local faith and belief groups to represent themselves. It also urges organisations to train more local faith/belief groups, and individuals to share their own stories. Government regulators need to improve directives and enforcement for media companies who regularly print false stories. Pray for those in the media to work with integrity and grace, and for God to use them to celebrate His Church.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 09 January 2020 23:34

Mayoral candidate talks about Christian persecution

Shaun Bailey, Conservative London mayoral candidate, says the way Christians are treated in the UK is tantamount to persecution. A Londoner, he has often spoken about his Christian faith during his political career. As he prepares to stand against Sadiq Khan, he is concerned his faith may be used against him in the campaign. He said, ‘We're persecuted for our views. People say things to us that they wouldn't say to people of no faith or any other faith. I think that because we are seen as a sort of establishment faith, people are allowed to say things. Internationally, people might feel differently about it, but that's how I feel. I know lots of people of faith feel that way because of what is said about them and what they cannot say. You'll see it in my election campaign, I imagine.’ See also the world article ‘Life getting harder for Christians’.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 03 January 2020 09:29

Global: anti-Semitism on the rise

Hudson Valley towns, north of New York, have seen an influx of Hasidic Jews in recent years, and they have been suffering violent attacks following a deadly 10 December shooting rampage at a kosher market where six Jewish people died. New York City police received at least six reports of attacks in one week. Mayor Bill de Blasio promised an increased police presence in neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations. In London, anti-Semitic graffiti were daubed on a synagogue and several kosher shops during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The graffiti showed the Star of David and ‘911’, referencing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews are responsible for the 9/11 terror attack or Kristallnacht, the organised nationwide attack on Jews which began in Germany on 9 November 1938. In November newspaper headlines stated that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, riding a wave of nationalism. See also

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 21 November 2019 23:28

Christian banned from Speakers’ Corner

On 10 November Rev Roland Parson was told by police officers he could not show his ‘Blood of Jesus Christ’ banner which was fixed with rope to the side of his preaching stand while he preached the Gospel. He has displayed his Christian banners and preached at Speakers’ Corner for over twenty years. Now the police informed him he was violating the Royal Parks regulations - banning the display of printed material. However, they didn’t do anything about other large banners displayed in the area. Mr Parsons is now taking legal advice to fight the ban, ‘not least because of the undue effect it has on evangelical Christians’. Mike Phillips, legal adviser to Christian Concern, added, ‘If you are doing something which has been allowed for many years, and suddenly the authorities prohibit it, then arguably they are acting outside their powers.’

Published in British Isles
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