Almost 500 children across the West Midlands were victims of, or vulnerable to, sexual exploitation in the first half of last year, figures have revealed. A report found some children were trafficked by gangs and often passed between offenders. It is thought to be the first time data has been compiled for the whole region. Stephen Rimmer, a senior civil servant who led the project, said it would help improve support for children. He said it provided ‘a proper picture for the first time of the scale and nature’ of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the area. ‘I think society has been slow to recognise that child sexual exploitation is insidious, it's spread right across the country - victims are often terrified and they will not be comfortable working with police and other agencies,’ he said.

Government has dropped the key section of ‘anti-terror’ guidance which threatened freedom of speech at university Christian Unions. Widespread concern had emerged over the draft guidance for the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which said that university societies in Britain would be forced to hand over external speakers’ talks two weeks in advance for vetting. It has been suggested that specific guidance on the issue of external speakers may be published before the General Election but it would not have any legal force. The Christian Institute welcomed the change, while student charity UCCF said: ‘We are profoundly thankful to the Lord for overruling in this.’ The issue concerns the Prevent strategy which aims to counter terrorism by addressing ‘extremism’. In January, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights warned that the ‘legal uncertainty’ about the definition of ‘extremist’ will have a seriously inhibiting effect on bona fide academic debate’. (See also Prayer Alert 04-2015)

A campaign to persuade more graduates to become religious education (RE) teachers has been launched. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) wants to raise awareness of bursaries of up to £9,000 available to cover training costs. RE has grown in popularity, with entries to the full course GCSE rising 19% since 2012. A-level entries have also increased more than any arts, humanity or social science subject over the past 10 years. The Beyond the Ordinary campaign is the first to specifically target potential trainee RE teachers and is being funded by donations from charitable trusts. More than 800 teacher training places will be available in the subject from September. Successful candidates with firs-class honours degrees will be eligible to receive training bursaries of £9,000, with £4,000 per year available for graduates with upper second class degrees.

The UK will no longer tolerate the behaviour of Islamist extremists who ‘reject our values’, Home Secretary Theresa May has said. She invited individuals, families and communities to join a ‘partnership’ to tackle the issue head on. Mrs May said everyone in Britain had ‘responsibilities as well as rights’, and must respect laws, institutions and the rights of others. Speaking in London, she also outlined plans to ban hate preachers. She announced Tory plans for a review of Sharia courts in England and Wales to examine whether they are compatible with British values.' We will no longer tolerate your behaviour. We will expose your hateful beliefs for what they are.’ An Islamic State fighter has called for the death of Home Secretary Theresa May following the speech she made on Monday in which she called on British Muslims to help defeat extremism.