The European Union was birthed to foster cooperation between countries to avoid another war. It has grown into a ‘single market’ for goods and people to move around as if the EU was a country with its own currency, its own parliament and setting rules on the environment, transport, consumer rights and things like mobile phone charges. Mr Cameron’s package of changes to the UK's EU membership will take effect immediately if we vote to remain in the EU. Changes include child benefit payments to migrant workers for children living overseas to reflect the cost of living in their home countries. Mr Cameron originally wanted a complete ban on migrants sending child benefit abroad but had to compromise. Other changes are to deny free movement rights to nationals of a country outside the EU who marry an EU national, to tackle ‘sham’ marriages, and to have new powers to exclude people believed to be a security risk - even if they have no previous convictions.

The Church of England is to make far-reaching changes to the way it deals with cases of sex abuse, following an independent report detailing how senior C of E figures failed to act upon repeated disclosures of a sadistic assault by a cleric. The first independent review commissioned by the Church into its handling of a sex abuse case highlights the ‘deeply disturbing’ failure of those in senior positions to record or take action on the survivor’s disclosures over a period of almost four decades. The Church acknowledged that the report made ‘embarrassing and uncomfortable’ reading. Last October, the C of E paid £35,000 in compensation and apologised to the victim. Now a government-appointed inquiry into child sex abuse prepares to examine hundreds of thousands of files relating to the abuse of children and vulnerable adults within the Church. Justin Welby has said that abuse by Church figures and within other institutions has been ‘rampant’.

A bill introduced on 15 March by MP Caroline Flint, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, has proposed that companies should have to file new-style financial reports with Companies House so that their global tax records are publicly available to all. ‘After years of tax scandals, the Chancellor has recognised that these company reports should be made public,’ said Toby Quantrill, a principal adviser on economic justice. If he did this, George Osborne would have cross-party support as well as the knowledge that he will be helping the UK and other countries to collect their fair share of tax from giant companies. Allowing politicians, investors, journalists, academics, campaigners, and fellow taxpayers to see multinationals’ country-by-country reports would pressurise companies to pay their fair share of tax in all the countries where they operate. Christian Aid joined more than thirty MPs in supporting this bill.

A knock on the door and an inconvenient visit are often our only encounters with Jehovah's Witnesses, but Jesus loves them deeply and unconditionally. Do we love them too? Though they identify themselves as ‘Christian,’ Witnesses are captive to many false teachings. For example, they deny the Trinity and the physical resurrection of Jesus, and base all doctrine on the Watchtower Society and the New World Translation of the Bible (not a scholarly or accurate translation). They teach that 144,000 will go to heaven to rule the earth, and those who remain will be resurrected to paradise on earth. They believe eternal life is based on their morality and faithfulness in witnessing to their beliefs. Many are increasingly being awakened to the Witnesses' control over their lives and eyes are being opened to doctrinal inconsistencies. However, embracing the Biblical Jesus and leaving the Witnesses results in a painful shunning from all community and family.