Displaying items by tag: Brexit

Over the next two years heads of state will be informally discussing and formally negotiating Brexit now that Article 50 has been triggered. ‘The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.’ (Pr. 16:1-2) May the EU heads of state be guarded and led by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. May all discussions be in His perfect will. Pray particularly for Theresa May to be blessed and anointed by God. May His face shine upon her continually, may He be gracious to her and uphold her in His mighty hands, giving her peace and confidence in the coming months and years.

Donald Tusk once warned, ‘UK leaving could cause destruction of not only the EU but Western political civilisation in its entirety’. He now has to keep Europe's leaders united in negotiations. He will also prepare the draft letter to the 27 states that will be the negotiating guidelines and response to Britain’s Article 50 letter. Others involved: Michel Barnier goes head-to-head with David Davis in tough negotiations. Sabine Weyand, his deputy and a formidable veteran at representing the Commission’s best interests, will not give much ground in trade talks. Didier Seeuws will head negotiating, keeping 27 governments happy and shaping EU / UK future relationships: he is modest and obliging, grasping complex technical issues and political stakes. David Davis, UK Brexit Secretary and a champion of civil liberties, helped to negotiate the Brussels agreements which he is now charged with unpicking. Oliver Robbins is a popular senior EU adviser who may put free movement of people at the heart of negotiations. Tim Barrow, UK ambassador to the EU, knows Brussels corridors and people.

EU citizens in Britain are the victims of ‘political games’ and their rights must be the first item in the exit talks, the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator has said. Guy Verhofstadt called for the fate of those three million EU nationals, and of British ex-pats, to be settled before negotiations on the rumoured £50bn ‘divorce bill’. Mr Verhofstadt said the EU parliament would agree a resolution soon after the Article 50 exit clause is triggered in the next few weeks, which it would expect to guide those talks. Otherwise the parliament could exercise its right to vote down any eventual deal agreed between the UK and the European Commission. ‘We vote no - that is possible,’ he said. MPs recently overturned a Lords’ amendment to the Brexit Bill urging the Prime Minister to give a unilateral guarantee that EU citizens will be able to stay in Britain.

On 2 March, Northern Ireland will vote for a new Assembly amid much uncertainty. DUP leader Arlene Foster faces criticism for an energy scheme that wasted hundreds of millions of public money. Sinn Fein faces a generation change as Martin McGuinness steps down, and the finance minister describes the Brexit votes as having a calamitous effect on the economy. Some say Brexit could scupper the peace deal. Pray for God’s hand on this election: for truth, integrity, and peace. Scotland voted 62% to remain, believing the single market is vital to jobs and economy. The SNP are deciding whether to call another referendum - their conference is in late March.The UK will trigger Article 50 in mid-March. Pray for the relations between London and Scotland to improve, for leaders to have wisdom and integrity.

In a keenly-awaited white paper, Brexit secretary David Davis today set out the Government’s negotiating strategy for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Launching the 77-page document in a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Davis said the paper confirmed the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘an independent and truly global United Kingdom’. Confirming that the UK’s strategy would be guided by the twelve principles set out by Mrs May in her Lancaster House speech last month, Mr Davis said the Government was aiming for ‘a new, positive and constructive partnership between Britain and the European Union that works in our mutual interest’. The white paper was published a day after MPs voted overwhelmingly to permit Mrs May to press ahead with starting withdrawal negotiations under Article 50 of the EU treaties.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court gave the responsibility for Brexit back to Parliament. The consequences of that ruling are making themselves felt, the most important being the bill on triggering Article 50 that the Government published yesterday. Yet the bill is not the very first fruit of the court’s constitutionally unanswerable decision. Until she stood up at Prime Minister’s questions on Wednesday, Theresa May was also insisting there would be no white paper on Brexit goals either. Yet, faced with a newly empowered House of Commons, Mrs May has been forced into a U-turn on that refusal too. Within 48 hours, the Government has been compelled to take Parliament more seriously. Mrs May changed her mind because of parliamentary numbers. This Government has a working majority of only sixteen: if the main opposition parties can find common cause with pro-remain Conservative MPs, that majority is threatened. Note: Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland now have no formal power of veto over withdrawal.

Theresa May will visit Dublin next week, but will not address the Dáil. This shows her ‘completely wrong list of priorities’, former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said. He tweeted on Wednesday, ‘So, PM rushes to be photographed with Trump and Erdogan but won’t find time to speak to Irish Dáil. Has No 10 completely lost the plot?’ In an interview, he also said, ‘The UK has serious obligations to our nearest and dearest neighbour’. He said a visit to the Dáil would have been not just a welcome courtesy but a historic event. ‘It would have helped ease rattled nerves over Brexit.’ A spokesman said that the Prime Minister’s schedule would not allow such a visit to happen. It has been suggested that Irish voters could delay or even possibly derail the Brexit negotiations, if a referendum was held: see

The C of E’s Diocese in Europe has begun exploring the implications that Britain’s decision to leave the EU might have on British-national clergy deployed to the continent. At present, as members of the EU, British nationals - including clergy - can travel, reside, and work in any of the other 27-member states without requiring visas or work permits. That may change when Britain leaves the EU. There are also questions about whether the reciprocal health-care arrangements for citizens of EU member states will continue to apply to British nationals once the UK completes the withdrawal process. The shape of the implications of Brexit on British citizens in Europe won’t be known until the conclusion of the negotiations on Britain’s new relationship with the EU. But the diocese has begun the process of exploring what the effects might be on its churches and their members across the continent, including a day of talks with Government minister Lord Bridges.

In a confident and hard-hitting speech on Tuesday, Theresa May spoke of a ‘bold’ approach to the UK’s Brexit negotiations. She said that the UK will leave the European single market, retake control of immigration, strike its own trade deals, and refuse to be bound by rulings from the European Court of Justice. She also confirmed that MPs will put the final deal to a vote in both Houses of Parliament. In reaction to her speech, which one commentator described as ‘some of the most important words she will ever utter’, the value of the pound jumped sharply as traders were reassured that a firm strategy is now in place. However, others were much more critical, with a number of European leaders accusing the PM of attempting to ‘blackmail’ the EU. Also, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that a second Scottish referendum on independence is now ‘all but inevitable’; her government has repeatedly stressed its desire to stay in the EU single market. See

We are encouraging a period of prayer and fasting at the start of the year in 2017.

We sense the need to push in prayer at the start of 2017 because of the potential of this significant year.

The lining up of the national 'Mill statement' by prayer leaders in 2015, Malcolm Duncan’s refocusing on the Smith Wigglesworth revival prophecy at the World Prayer Centre conference this year, the deep significance of Brexit, the Trumpet Call about Jubilee over the British Isles, anointed street evangelism in Reading and other places - all point towards an increase in the move of the Spirit to expect in coming months.

We are aware that the prophet Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, when he realised a 70 year prophecy was soon to be fulfilled, didn’t just rejoice and accept it, but prayed and fasted to help pray in the fulfilment of it. We sense the need to partner & birth the new season.

As Beacon house of prayer, supported by UK houses of prayer network, we are suggesting 21 days of prayer and fasting to start when appropriate in January; we are going from Monday 23rd to Sunday 12th February, but we know a couple of other HOPs are doing the start of January.

Exact timing is not so important, as long as there is a covering of prayer at the start of 2017.

We are attaching a very simple prayer guide outline for any HOPs and prayer groups that would like to take this up.

Download the prayer & fasting guide

Download prophetic words

Source: Beacon House of Prayer