Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

With the rollout of vaccines for Covid-19 now imminent, there are increasing concerns around misinformation (online or on social media) turning people against being immunised. The WHO says an overload of information, some false, makes it difficult for people to make decisions about their health. One participant in a coronavirus vaccine trial said, ‘It's often very difficult with the amount of information that we are being bombarded with to make sense of what you should be doing. I think a vaccine is one of the only ways out of the situation if we want to get away from endless lockdowns and curfews.’ Researchers have moved at record speed to develop vaccines, and the WHO is monitoring data from over 200 trials on several types of vaccine based on different technologies. They are going through the same safety tests as vaccines already used all around the world.

Disability History Month runs from 18 November to 18 December every year. It is supported by many disability groups, unions, and voluntary organisations, who aim to promote disabled people's rights and their struggle for equality now and in the past. Every year the month focuses on a different theme - celebrating achievements and fighting for equality. For instance, 14-year-old Jonathan is non-verbal and a wheelchair user who was in a special school until his mother taught him to read and write by eye pointing on a perspex E Tran and eye gaze software. Jonathan went to a mainstream primary in Year 5. When he was twelve, he wrote the book 'Eye Can Write' and set up a charity. Pray for continued backing and funding for all those sharing resources to help people with disabilities, and helping able-bodied people to understand the struggles that disabled people have.

Sadly, some rural chaplains report that recent months have seen an increase in levels of stress and tragically in suicides, especially amongst younger farmers. This has been a difficult farming year, with the impact of the pandemic, TB, and now an increasing risk of avian flu (see next article). With the uncertainties of isolated working and living conditions, people are stressed, vulnerable, feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. Pray for the work of chaplains and all those ministering to farming communities and families.

An avian influenza prevention zone has been declared across England, Scotland and Wales to reduce the risk of the disease spreading following a number of confirmed cases in recent weeks. This means that all bird keepers must follow strict biosecurity measures. Those with more than 500 birds now need to restrict access for non-essential people on their sites; workers must change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures, and site vehicles need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Backyard owners with smaller numbers of poultry including chickens, ducks and geese are also urged to strengthen their biosecurity measures in order to prevent further outbreaks of avian influenza in the UK. Public Health England said the risk to public health is very low, and the Food Standards Agency advises that ‘avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers’.

Christian Concern write, ‘The Government has announced a consultation to decide whether to extend its temporary decision to allow DIY abortions. Brandished as “women's healthcare”, abortions that take place entirely at home are dangerous, providing no opportunity to safeguard women against coercive partners or go through proper safety checks - ultrasound scans and blood tests. Tragically, we know that many illegal and dangerous abortions have taken place since the government introduced the policy in March 2020. We need to do everything we can to protect women and babies by stopping this policy from becoming permanent. A number of pro-life groups are participating in “Care for Women”, a parliamentary briefing for MPs to advise them on all of the research showing that this policy is dangerous and offers no care for women. Please ask your MP to attend the briefing on Thursday 10 December at 2pm, via Zoom.’ Find your MP:

Because of Brexit, the UK must submit its own national climate plan to the UN climate body. Nineteen church leaders have written to Boris Johnson asking him to set ambitious goals when he submits the country’s first climate plan under the Paris Agreement. This agreement commits countries to keeping temperature rises ‘well below’ 2C above pre-industrial levels, and pursuing efforts to limit them to 1.5C, which is seen as the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of climate change will be felt. The letter to the Prime Minister was signed by the CofE's bishop for the environment, Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, the Bishop of Salisbury; the Archbishop of Wales; and leaders from the Church of Scotland, the Baptist Union, Methodist Church, URC, and Quakers, as well as 57,000 others who believe the UK could be a true global leader.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged people to return to church on Christmas Day, as social distancing rules are relaxed over the festive period. Justin Welby said that people should not be put off physically attending worship on 25 December. He told BBC’s Newsnight, ‘Yes, of course they should go to church. Go to church online. Go to church physically. You'll find that far fewer people will be there, because we're keeping people two metres apart. Go to church, pray. Remember at the heart of Christmas is the gift of Jesus Christ, by God, to give us hope and life and a future. And it's that hope that's at the centre of Christmas.’ The archbishop added, ‘I will certainly be in church. That's one of the safest places going at the moment, and it will be permitted from the end of lockdown. But there will be very few people there.’

25 November was dedicated to drawing attention to persecuted Christians. A Twitter account advertised the date and invited comments. Archbishop Eamon tweeted on behalf of Catholic News Ireland, ‘Covid-19 restrictions remind us to pray for those who are never free to worship and who are imprisoned for their faith’ Fr Michael J Kane tweeted, ‘Our Church lit up in red to mark Red Wednesday, showing support & solidarity with our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters around the world.’ Dominic Raab tweeted, ‘The UK stands in solidarity with those who suffer for their faith or belief, as we continue to strive for freedom of religion or belief for all. We join churches & landmarks around the world, turning red in support of persecuted Christians everywhere.’ The Carmelite Nuns GB tweeted, ‘Today is #RedWednesday. We pray especially for persecuted Christians throughout the world and for the important work of Aid to the Church in Need.’

British / Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has announced promising results in developing a vaccine. An early analysis of some of its late-stage clinical trials, conducted in the UK and Brazil, showed that its coronavirus vaccine was 70.4 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, suggesting that the world could eventually have at least three working vaccines - and greater supply - to help curb the pandemic. However, doubts are being expressed about the results of the trials, mainly because they are based on a very small sample of people. British scientists are defending the validity of the findings, and look forward to further evidence becoming available in December. See

At his spending review on 25 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s plans for public spending. It is an important fiscal event, with decisions made over hundreds of billions of pounds of public money. It is also an important political event, as the government sets out relative priorities and allocates funding towards achieving its policy objectives. The initial reaction from the Institute for Fiscal Studies was this: ‘Rishi Sunak has been spending truly astonishing amounts of money this year and plans to continue to do so next year in response to Covid. Yet this was a spending review in which he reduced planned spending into the future, cutting over £10 billion from departmental spending plans next year and for subsequent years.’ (See also the next article.) Pray for the 1.3 million public sector workers who will see their pay frozen in 2021-2 and for the projected 2.6 million unemployed by spring. See