Michael Lockwood has led the Office for Police Conduct as director general since 2018, handling the most serious complaints against police in England and Wales. Now he has been forced to resign after becoming the subject of a police investigation himself. The Home Secretary took action after learning of a probe into a historical allegation against Lockwood. He was asked either to resign or be suspended. No further information about the nature of the allegation was given. Home Office staff are now working to ‘put in place temporary arrangements for the organisation's leadership’.

Thousands of disabled people live in unsuitable homes, while cities fail to plan for wheelchair users. Three of the ten largest cities have no requirements beyond national guidelines, which only provide wheelchair users access through entrance doors and hallways on ground level. Disabled people face long housing searches, huge extra costs to convert accommodation, or living in a dangerous home. The Equality and Human Rights Commission said failure to plan for fully accessible homes is a ‘hidden crisis’ in housing for disabled people. The government said it will strengthen the national standards. As the number of disabled people increases, it is estimated that 400,000 wheelchair users in England alone are living in unsuitable accommodation. Many of our disabled cannot live independently. They cannot afford the huge costs for adaptations or specialist accommodation; some can’t even use parts of their own homes without someone coming in to help them.

The UK has snow and ice warnings in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the east coast of England. Forecasts of icy temperatures will last until at least early next week, possibly beyond.  if people cannot heat every room or are struggling with heating costs, they are being advised by health officials to heat living rooms during the day and bedrooms before going to sleep. Pray for enough shelters to be provided for the homeless people. Pray for the elderly and sick to have plenty of hot food and drinks to keep warm and to stay warm regardless of heating costs. Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action called on the Government to step in with more help for those at greatest peril this winter: pray for the Government to listen and act. Pray for more ‘warm banks’ to be established, providing heated buildings for people to visit.

The Archbishop of Canterbury visited Bucha and saw evidence of atrocities and civilian killings by Russian troops, as millions of people remain without power or heating after attacks on Ukraine's power grid. The most senior cleric in the Church of England was highlighting the need for support for Ukraine ahead of a tough winter. ‘I am clear that Putin chose to start the war and release the evil that comes from that’, he said. It is proper to support a ‘victim nation’ that is ‘being overrun by aggression’. Stating that the international community had a ‘duty of care’ to protect weaker nations, he said that the consequences of letting Ukraine down would be ‘infinitely worse’ than carrying on the support for Kyiv. ‘It would be more expensive and politically catastrophic because it would prove that Putin was right when he thought the West would not stand together for long enough for this to end justly and fairly.’