Displaying items by tag: UK

New plans to change the online safety bill will see the UK come one step closer towards making the internet a safe place for young people by preventing access to content that promotes suicide, eating disorders and self-harm. The amendment will give the act additional teeth to deliver change and ensure that people are held to account if they fail to properly protect children. Christian charity CARE welcomed the amendment but said further action still needs to be taken. They would like to see the government go further to protect children from the specific harms caused by pornography and for children to be afforded the same protections in the online world as they are offline.

Despite MPs having voted overwhelmingly to reject measures to legalise assisted dying in 2015, and in 2021, due to mass opposition from fellow Peers, activists are again pushing for the law to allow doctors to ‘help’ terminally ill patients end their lives. Ahead of the pending debate, MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee in Parliament are now conducting an inquiry, asking for the views of the general public into assisted dying/assisted suicide, to help shape their recommendations to Government, regardless of what, up to now, has been a clear and settled opposition to any such proposal. This debate will not go away until activists get what they want. Like water dripping relentlessly on a stone, after each defeat the campaigners return, with the same demands. The Bible says life is the gift of God for man made in His own image.

Train drivers, teachers, lecturers and civil servants will walk out on the same day and a senior minister urged them to reconsider the industrial action and think about the impact it will have on working people across the country and on the economy saying. We know times are difficult. What we don’t want to see is the economy damaged by self-harm strike action that makes it harder to get to work, cross the border and of course to get access to crucial public services.’ The walkouts take place amid union bosses' anger over anti-strike laws making their way through Parliament that would curb the impact of walkouts by requiring minimum service levels. The RCN said, ‘We have extended an olive branch, actually the whole tree, to government to meet us halfway, so now come on.’ The education secretary will talk to teachers about money but stopped short of promising to review pay. see also

Nicola Sturgeon plans to take legal action after Rishi Sunak blocked her controversial gender reforms allowing 16 year olds to change their legal gender without the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has written to the First Minister declaring he will veto the Bill, warning of ‘significant complications’ if Scotland and England have different legal frameworks for gender recognition, potentially allowing someone to be male in one country and female in the other. He intends making an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act to prevent the Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent. Ms Sturgeon accused Westminster of a ‘full-frontal attack’ on the Scottish Parliament and its ability to make its own decisions on devolved matters. The Christian Institute and Scottish Catholic bishops have both called for the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill to be scrapped.

Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry. It will affect 5% of its global workforce and cost £972m in severance and reorganisation costs. Microsoft is the latest, but it won't be the last, as the giants seek to tighten their belts following the boom time of the pandemic, when lockdowns meant people were stuck at home, wanting to spend their cash on digital entertainment and devices. Amazon plans to cut over 18,000 jobs, the largest number in the firm's history, as it battles to save costs. The online giant employs 1.5 million people globally and said the job cuts would include Europe. Meanwhile M&S will create 3,400 jobs as it opens new shops. AJ Bell’s investment director said it felt significant that M&S had revealed its investment figure at a time when the retail environment is not buoyant. see

The Trussell Trust needs people to raid cupboards for unwanted food to donate in the weeks before Christmas. Parcel costs have rocketed. Some food banks have seen the cost of a food parcel rise from £39 to £58. Many face a difficult winter with rising costs of heating and food. Food banks - many operating through churches - are expecting more demand than ever before, with volunteers giving out 1.3 million emergency food parcels over the next six months. The cost of providing vital food parcels to families in need has risen significantly as the cost-of-living crisis worsens. National Statistics data shows that the price of vital items usually included in the parcels has risen by 17% in a year. Lack of understanding contributes to food going to waste, or donations not being given. Trussell Trust have joined with Deliveroo takeaway service to ensure more donations get to the centres this Christmas.

Petrol bombs exploded at a Dover migrant centre causing 700 refugees to be transferred to Manston centre, a short-term holding facility for up to 1,600 people for 24 hours. But there were already 4,000 on the dangerously overcrowded site with some migrants threatening to self-harm and hunger strike and unrest spreading across the camp. Dozens of charities, sent an open letter to Ms Braverman (who had referred to the refugee crisis as an invasion) saying, ‘You refer to this country's proud history of offering sanctuary, so we ask you to make this happen with fair, kind and effective systems for refugees. Deal with the backlog in asylum cases, create safe routes, respect the UN convention on refugees, and give refugees a fair hearing, however they get here.’ The next day hundreds of migrants were moved to hotels  as the government was accused of presiding over a ‘shambles’. Meanwhile a group of migrants were reportedly mistakenly taken from Manston and stranded in central London, cold, hungry and without accommodation.

The Church of England has joined forces with Christian charity Youthscape to help parishes connect with young people. The £1.29m project is being rolled out to 450 churches across the country after being trialled in Blackburn, London and St Albans. ‘It's really a hopeful approach to engaging with young people in a parish, looking into strategies and confidence building,’ the Church of England's Vision and Strategy team said, ‘It's about working with the church leaders to help them develop what might be the right next steps in their context.’ Churches will have access to a five-session Youthscape training course to help volunteers and youth workers formulate plans to work with young people in their parishes. Sometimes it's the simplest things that don't require a lot of money but require you to look and have insight into how young people are living in the parish and look at where they might be able to engage with them.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has said the government is still committed to a manifesto pledge of building 300,000 homes every year by the mid-2020s. Former PM Liz Truss had cast doubt on the aim, saying she wanted to scrap ‘Stalinist’ housing targets. But Mr Gove - who returned to cabinet after Ms Truss's resignation said he wanted to build more homes, both for ownership and to rent, and that new developments should have the consent of local communities. He also warned meeting the target would be ‘difficult’ due to the economic circumstances. ‘We need to be straight with people: the cost of materials has increased because of the problems with global supply chains and also a very tight labour market means that the capacity to build those homes at the rate we want is constrained,’ he said.

Paedophiles, rapists, a murderer, and a neo-Nazi all managed to join the police due to a widespread failure to screen out dangerous and corrupt officers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of serving officers have criminal records, are linked to gangsters, or pose a risk to the public, watchdogs warned on November 1st. Analysis of personnel files found it was far too easy for misogynistic, corrupt, or predatory officers to join up and stay in uniform. They include Benjamin Hannam, a neo-Nazi who was recruited by Scotland Yard despite featuring in a recruitment video for a banned far-Right group two days before he applied. He became the first constable to be convicted of terror offences after an anonymous hacker told the Met that he was a member of National Action (white supremacists) and recruited others to a group that backed the murder of MP Jo Cox.