NHS staff cried in interviews
02 Mar 2023
An NHS watchdog said doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other NHS staff have faced ‘significant distress’ and harm over the past year due to long delays in urgent and emergency care. Many staff interviewed for a national investigation ‘cried or displayed other extreme emotions’ when asked about their working environment. One paramedic said, ‘The bad sides of my job give me nightmares, flashbacks and fear, making me hyperactive, sleepless and sometimes not caring about the danger I put myself in.’ One ambulance service worker describes the last year as the most difficult in the decade she has worked there. Staff say pressure affects them outside work. Many struggled to interact normally with friends and family. Others, living alone, reported feelings of isolation and despair after difficult days. The watchdog found significant waiting lists for employee assistance schemes, occupational health and other services. The NHS promises an emergency recovery plan to reduce pressures.
Boris Johnson rejects post-Brexit agreement
02 Mar 2023
Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal with the EU to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol row, claiming that it doesn’t take back control from Brussels. The former PM is urging Sunak to consider using his bill to unilaterally override the protocol if it ‘doesn’t work’. He added, ‘I will find it very difficult to vote for something like this because I believe we should have done things differently no matter how much plaster came off the Brussels ceiling. We have got to hope it works.’ Boris said he understood why people want to move on from Brexit rows and accept the deal: ‘I get that.’ Meanwhile, the European Research Group said it could take two weeks for the Brexiteer group to carry out its own ‘legal audit’ of the deal. Mr Sunak wants to give the DUP and Tory Eurosceptics space and time to consider the deal before holding the commons vote.
More teenagers vaping
02 Mar 2023
Concerns have been raised that the growing use of vapes among young people may lead to them smoking cigarettes. Kent County Council has urged businesses and residents to report to trading standards officers any illegal vapes and underage sales. Vaping products containing nicotine are required by law to carry a warning label on the box, and sales of vaping products to those under the age of 18 are banned. The Local Government Association wants new measures to regulate the display and marketing of vaping products in the same way as tobacco. England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said some products are intended to appeal to those who are underage, and that the UK should do ‘everything we can’ to reduce vaping among children. A grammar school headteacher said shops ‘entice’ young people with bright and colourful advertising.
Energy costs changing
02 Mar 2023
The amount suppliers charge for energy was cut by Ofgem to £3,280 as wholesale prices fell. But bills will still rise in April as government help eases. Ofgem's announcement does not affect each household’s payment for energy units but it reduces costs that the government faces. Average household bills will rise from £2,100 to £3,000 annually in April because government help (Energy Price Guarantee) becomes less generous and a £400 winter discount on bills ends. The TUC’s general secretary said, ‘Energy bills are out of control. The government must cancel April's hike. As costs of wholesale gas plummet, ministers have no excuse for not stepping in.’ Under the government guarantee, a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity in England, Wales and Scotland is paying £2,500 a year. Without state support, that annual bill would have been £4,279 since January.
Prayer summit - a special moment
02 Mar 2023
Ukraine was very much on everyone’s hearts, and some Ukrainian sisters and young Russian brothers came to the conference. It was not an easy situation for them, a Ukrainian sister expressed the deep wounds and pain caused to Ukrainians through the losses they are suffering day in and day out, by Russians. Then a young Russian Christian who helps drug addicts and social fringe groups testified how his fellow ministry leaders had suffered persecution after scrutiny by Russian authorities. In their own ways, both sides were ‘victims’ of the same autocratic state, and their pain was palpable. We prayerfully surrounded them, and during our intercessions, they were eventually able to reach out and embrace one another. It was deeply moving to witness these tentative steps of reconciliation between Ukrainian and Russian Christians. Reconciliation at the cross is a powerful weapon against the ‘real enemy’. Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Europe: migrants shipwrecked
02 Mar 2023
Over 100 migrants died and 80 were recovered alive after their overloaded boat of 200+ people sank in rough seas off southern Italy. It was trying to land near Crotone. 43 bodies were recovered from a nearby beach resort. The migrants were from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. Large numbers of people fleeing conflict and poverty cross from Africa to Italy each year. Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who pledged to stem the migrant flow into Italy, expressed deep sorrow, blaming the deaths on traffickers. One survivor was arrested for migrant trafficking. Pope Francis, who often defends the rights of migrants, has said he is praying for the dead, the missing and those who survived. Sadly, 15 days earlier, 73 migrants went missing and were presumed dead after their boat sank off the Libyan coast in a boat en route to Europe on the world's deadliest migratory sea crossing.
Israel: West Bank on the brink
02 Mar 2023
Scores of Jewish settlers stormed Hawara torching vehicles and houses in a ‘revenge’ attack after two Israeli brothers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. West Bank’s safety has deteriorated with deadly attacks in Israel, leading to raids on Palestinian terror cells by Israel’s army. Israeli defence forces are being criticised for not quickly quelling Hawara’s violence, revealing stark divisions in Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government; some even encourage the settlers. Meanwhile, Netanyahu called on Israelis not to take the law into their own hands and condemned ‘anarchy.’ Many analysts say that he, the strong-minded leader, fears he is losing control of the security situation in the West Bank. This is a sensitive issue that will deepen government fissures if it goes unchecked. Jews rioting in Huwara have been rightly condemned. But why does the world tolerate Palestinian terrorism? Palestinians regularly take to the streets to celebrate the murders of Jews.
USA: open arms for refugees
02 Mar 2023
President Biden has announced a new pilot programme that empowers individuals to privately sponsor refugees coming to America. Through the programme, Welcome Corps, groups of five individuals or more can raise funds to sponsor a refugee. Once the refugee arrives, these people will help them secure housing, employment, and education as they integrate into American life. Christians are called to care for the persecuted and vulnerable. The narrative of Scripture reveals God’s heart for the immigrant and the refugee, who are valuable people made in His image (Matt. 25:35-40).