Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Peterborough’s St Olga Church is a Ukrainian church. Members of the community have been collecting supplies to be sent to help anyone displaced by fighting in Ukraine. They are also gathering basic supplies like first aid boxes and toiletries for Ukraine's army. Irina Pitka left Ukraine 23 years ago. She said, ‘What is going through my head is fear and anger over this evil occupation. We trust the Ukrainian army and the west which is now showing tremendous support.’ Oleksii Burov worships at St Olga and studies at the University of East Anglia. His father, a surgeon, and his mother (an economist ) live in Kyiv. He said, ‘We've been living in a state of war for eight years.’ Since 2014 London’s Newman Catholic College has been helping refugee children to succeed by running summer camps, weekend classes and liaising with subject teachers and pastoral staff for many students scarred by a traumatic journey. See

For Global Britain to be credible it is time for its architect, Boris Johnson, to intervene with retribution tactics not deterrence. Closing Russia’s embassy and removing their diplomats while removing ours from Moscow would indicate a fundamental shift in the understanding of Russia as not a partner in diplomacy, but a threat to other nations. Russian state outlets in the UK, like Russia Today, spouting propaganda masquerading as journalism, should be shut down immediately to prevent misinformation. Those operating in politics, law, and media while representing Russian state interests should be forced to declare who is paying their bills. Visas should be cancelled and assets of everyone linked to Putin’s regime frozen. Of all the economic sanctions, cutting Putin’s regime off from SWIFT international payment system would remove Russia’s ability to make international transactions, trigger capital outflows and currency instability, and hit buyers of Russian oil and gas.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a ‘catastrophe for our continent’, said Boris Johnson. He chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on 24 February and gave a televised statement after Russian forces launched an assault on Ukraine, crossing its borders and bombing military targets near big cities. He outlined new sanctions against Russia in the Commons and said on Twitter that he would also speak to his fellow G7 leaders. He called for an urgent meeting of all NATO leaders as soon as possible. In a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Johnson vowed the West ‘would not stand by as Putin waged his campaign against the Ukrainian people’ and tweeted earlier, ‘Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine.’ Foreign secretary Liz Truss has demanded that the Russian ambassador explain Russia's ‘illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine’.

All Covid restrictions have been removed in England. People are no longer legally required to self-isolate if they test positive for Covid - although they are still advised to do so. NHS England bosses have written to healthcare staff to say if they test positive, they should not attend work until they have had two negative lateral flow tests taken 24 hours apart, and at least five days after the positive result. Free testing will continue until 1 April - both PCR tests for people with symptoms and lateral flow tests for those without. Pray for people at risk to have quick and easy access to testing and medical help if needed after 1 April. Pray for the government to reconsider free testing for key workers, including NHS staff. The changes are part of the prime minister's Living with Covid plan, to ‘transition back to normality’. Mr Johnson wants a vaccine-led approach. 

Minimum entry grades for universities and a cap on student numbers are part of government plans to shake up England's higher education system. Students will need GCSE passes in English and Maths, or the equivalent of two grade Es at A-level, under plans set out on 24 February. About a third currently fail to achieve a grade 4 in those core GCSEs, the equivalent to a C in the old system. Entry grade exemptions, possibly for mature students, will be considered in the future. The intention is to restrict entry to courses not offering a good route into graduate jobs and prevent universities from recruiting students into higher education before they are ready. Universities have already been told they will have some responsibility for courses leading to good jobs. Ministers argue the reforms should encourage more young people to consider apprenticeships or other higher qualifications.

The Met Office released a red weather warning (the highest level) for 18 February for parts of south-west England and south Wales as there is a danger to life from flying debris. Gusts of 90 mph would cause significant disruption. Damage to homes, train cancellations and power cuts are also likely. There is a lower level warning for wind in the rest of Wales and most of England. Storm Eunice comes 48 hours after Storm Dudley caused widespread disruption and power cuts in Scotland and north England. Cornwall council warned that the winds will coincide with high spring tides along the coastline, possibly leading to flooding. The storm is likely to be as powerful as the one in 2014 which saw homes evacuated amid widespread floods.

In our communities we see pockets of prejudice and persecution, and in the marketplace we have to watch out for fraud and dishonesty - but, Father, we know you can bring change and establish kingdom values in our land. So we ask You to call, raise up, and anoint men and women to bring transformation to the hard places. May 2022 be the turning point as Your Church delivers love and compassion to deprived areas. Where there is despair bring hope; where there is grief, release Your healing. Father, we ask You to expel the enemy from his strongholds and flood every dark area with your light and power. Release forgiveness, reconciliation and peace to communities experiencing prejudice and animosity, and strengthen Your church as they step out in faith to proclaim freedom for the captives. Let this year be the year of the Lord’s favour as wounds within cultures are healed.

Christian MP Fiona Bruce has handed a petition to home secretary Priti Patel, to raise continued concerns about a Pakistani Christian girl, Maira Shahbaz. At just 14 she was kidnapped, forced into marriage and converted; she escaped, only to be forced into hiding after her abductor accused her of apostasy. More than 12,000 people signed an Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) petition calling on Boris Johnson to grant asylum to Maira. ACN’s press officer John Pontifex said, ‘We are extremely delighted that Fiona Bruce has once again taken the trouble to reach out to Priti Patel and make this fresh appeal on behalf of Maira. I have been in touch with Maira almost every day, sometimes talking about her situation. She says to me: “I feel like I am in a prison, I can’t go out, I’m stuck, I don’t have enough to eat. What can you do to help me?”’

Parents Sally and Nigel Rowe were warned that if their six-year-old child expressed confusion about another pupil wearing a dress and used incorrect pronouns it would be unacceptable behaviour. A letter from the headteacher and governors said that pupils risked being viewed as transphobic if they showed an inability to believe a transgender person is actually a ‘real’ female or male. The parents have withdrawn both their sons from the school and been granted permission for a judicial challenge to the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to provide the guidelines to state schools. A hearing is expected within six months, and the DfE is defending the claim. The parents withdrew their eldest son in 2015 after he became confused about another boy wearing girl's clothes. Two years later, they are raising the issue again after their second son was confused about another pupil who identified as ‘gender fluid’, alternating their appearance on various days of the week.

In 2020 staff at 74 universities held a 14-day strike over pensions, pay, and conditions. Now staff at 68 UK universities will be taking part in a wave of strike action over the next three weeks. Some are striking over pay and conditions, others over pensions: but for most taking action, it is over both. The University and College Union, which represents staff at institutions across the UK, has demanded a £2,500 pay increase for members, an end to ‘pay injustice’ and zero-hours contracts, and action to tackle ‘unmanageable workloads’. The dispute over pensions has been rumbling on for over a decade, but has been reignited by a valuation of a pension scheme used by academic staff - the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Those involved in the action include some of the UK's biggest in terms of student numbers - such as the Open University, University College London, and the University of Manchester.