Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to court in Iran, according to her family, who said she has been told to pack a bag as she will be returned to prison following a hearing on 2 November. Her local MP Tulip Siddiq said the timing of the trial raised ‘serious concerns’ as it follows the postponement of a court hearing about the UK's historic debt to Iran. She added, ‘Nazanin has once again been treated with utter contempt and I am extremely concerned about her future and wellbeing. The fact that she has been told to pack a bag for prison ahead of her court hearing doesn't fill me with confidence that this will be anything close to a fair trial. The timing of this development alongside the postponement of the court hearing raises serious concerns.’

A group of black leaders from across the country, representing many denominations or none and pulled together by the Baptist Union president, have looked at ways of showing solidarity against the real injustices experienced by people of colour in our communities. Petitioning the government is one of those ways. They are encouraging people to sign a parliamentary petition calling for the government to implement recommendations previously raised to tackle the issue. They aim to attract 100,000 signatures so that the petition can be debated in parliament.

Michael Gove told the Welsh Brexit minister that Britain could ‘no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy’ and won’t back down on its demands. Spain and Gibraltar want a last-minute deal to avoid having a hard border after Brexit. However a Spanish diplomatic source said they have stumbled on ‘a lack of political will’ in London. Ireland’s foreign minister claimed that a trade deal is now ‘likely’ in the next two weeks, while warning ‘major trade disruption would be the ‘new reality’ even if a UK-EU deal is struck. Bloomberg (an international news agency) thinks that the Brexit negotiators have made good progress in London this week, raising hopes they could ‘inch’ towards a deal by early November. People ‘familiar with the discussions’ claim that the two sides have begun work on the text of an agreement covering level playing field issues, and are close to finalising a joint document covering state aid mechanism.

The British Association of Critical Care Nurses said that we may have the beds, equipment and Nightingale spaces, but we have limited staff numbers. It won't take much this winter to reach a crisis point (current new transmissions are 96,000 daily).The second wave is placing an ever greater toll on UK hospitals. There are currently over 1,000 Covid admissions daily. Hospitals have started cancelling routine treatments, or announcing some treatments will have to stop. Although admissions are up, they’re nowhere near the numbers last spring. At one point then, 3,000+ patients were admitted daily. Instead, we see a gradual rise. Winter usually has 1,000 people admitted daily for respiratory problems. It is predicted the 2021 flu season will be mild, but we do not know if it will add to the coronavirus workload. Medical staff all share the feeling of exhaustion that has been heightened by long-standing concerns about staff shortages, and deep resentment about pay and conditions. See

Geporge Eustice, the environment secretary, has said it's too early to say what Covid rules will be in place by Christmas. He warned that people ‘may not be able to get together in the larger groups that they normally would’. Opposition parties have called for coronavirus rules to be the same across all four UK nations this Christmas. Sage member Sir Mark Walport has said there is little to feel reassured about. He added that there are still many vulnerable people, and ‘it's certainly not unrealistic to think there could be 25,000 people in hospital with Covid by the end of next month. We are better at treating coronavirus but the country is still relatively early in the second wave and there is a significant lag between getting the infection and potentially dying.’

Cardiff university chaplains decided to organise ‘walk and talk’ sessions after other events were cancelled due to the Covid lockdown and a decision not to allow people from areas of the UK with high levels of coronavirus to visit. Rev David Sheen said that this academic year is more stressful for students than usual, particularly new students who would normally be able to socialise widely and meet new friends but are currently restricted in what they can do. Many are missing home, family, and pets, The ‘walk and talk’ events provide some sort of normality, with the opportunity to talk to chaplains, meet others, have some fresh air, and enjoy being with the dogs they are walking. Self-isolating students are invited to join the chaplains’ daily Zoom 'bring your own coffee’ and 'drop-in chat'.

Politics is concerned with serving the common good, weighing and developing solutions, stewarding resources in the public interest; music touches our experiences, tastes and emotions. Boris Johnson’s description of the NHS as ‘powered by love’ following his recovery from coronavirus was notable in its departure from this pattern. His tribute conveyed something out of the ordinary, reflecting an insight derived not from briefings or expert analysis, but through relationship and direct personal experience. Churches have more in common with music than politics. The greatest Christian commandments have to do with love for God and for other people. One expression of love is kindness, which we have seen in abundance during the coronavirus pandemic. Martin Luther King Jr said, ‘Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.’

Talks between UK and EU Brexit negotiators entered an ‘intensified phase’ on 22 October after Brussels said both sides would be required to compromise on trade issues. Michel Barnier offered an olive branch to Lord Frost as the deadline for a deal looms. Number 10 acknowledged that ‘significant gaps’ remain between the two sides, and it was ‘entirely possible that negotiations will not succeed’. Meanwhile, according to the Home Office, EU criminals could be barred from entering the UK when freedom of movement ends next year. However questions remain as to how the criminal history of travellers will be checked if the UK loses access to EU crime databases at the end of the Brexit transition period, as no agreements have yet been reached.

The following is based on a prayer by Passion for the Nation. ‘Father, we ask for a fresh alignment of the words and thoughts of our leaders, local and national, with Your will, that in these days, ancient divisions from nation to nation, or region to region, will decrease, and necessary changes will take place. Please release healing into the North / South divide. We ask forgiveness for the words that have been spoken from offence, fear or anger, and we ask for a spirit of reconciliation, that longstanding wounds caused by political decisions or inequalities of lifestyle will not be exacerbated by current issues. Now Lord, we thank You for the life of our Queen, Elizabeth II, and her heart for You and her people and for the wisdom, righteousness and integrity reflected in her life. In this pandemic season we ask for your protection, strength and health for her and Prince Philip and for other members of the royal family.’

On 27 October Christians will pray for the unborn children who will not reach their God-given potential. Since 1967 9.5 million babies have been aborted in the UK. Every three minutes, a precious life is destroyed. Our nation has one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe. Pray for the Church to make her voice heard for the lives of our youngest ones. Cry out that she will have God’s heart on this issue, for deep repentance, and a compassionate, decisive move to stop this evil from spreading further in our land. Pray for workers providing abortion to have a change of heart and mind. https://www.worldprayer.org.uk/blog/day-of-prayer-about-abortion Also the pro-abortion argument has raged for over a century. Offensive pro-abortion slogans include, ‘What makes you religious fanatics think you can tell me what to do with my uterus?’ Pray for communities to recognise infant loss and heart-break that follows abortion.