Rev Dave Young (Chinese name Ho Ming Lun), vicar of two churches in London, recently took part in the launch of the Teahouse - a network of clergy and ordinands across the CofE with a Chinese heritage. It began in 2020 with a WhatsApp group and Zoom meetings. The Archbishop of York said he is ‘delighted to see the formal launch of the Teahouse group’. The launch of the Teahouse comes as thousands of British overseas passport holders from Hong Kong are arriving in the UK. Rev Young said, ‘With the arrival of many Hong Kongers over recent months, it is important that the Church welcomes them to our communities and churches. On 13 December he welcomed over 70 new Hong Kong arrivals to a special welcome event at his church with spreads of Chinese and British food shared among the families

K was stalked and threatened with kidnap and torture by S, a fellow student, at Oxford Brookes University. But the university's failure to act swiftly left her terrified. S was expelled from the university this month, even though he had admitted stalking her in September and K had been reporting him to Brookes since 2020 when she first encountered him. K eventually reported the violent threats to the police, who treated the threats seriously and provided outstanding support. S admitted stalking and was given a four-month suspended sentence this week, after the court heard he would leave the UK within days. K now wants universities to overhaul policies and toughen disciplinary codes so that they can put protective measures in place or suspend students where there is clear evidence of sexual misconduct. The university said they accepted there are lessons to learn for the future where threatening student behaviour may also constitute a criminal offence.

France and Britain have clashed repeatedly over migrants crossing the Channel, post-Brexit trade arrangements, the sale of submarines to Australia, and fishing territories. The fishing dispute has come to a head as France threatened the UK with a lawsuit unless a few dozen fishing licences are granted as a ‘gesture of goodwill’ before 10 December. The deadline expired without a breakthrough in talks, despite France's threat, and 104 French boats still lack licences to operate in British and Channel Island waters. Britain earlier denied discriminating against French boats, saying many of the vessels are unable to provide the paperwork required to qualify for a licence. ‘This is a technical process based on evidence rather than deadlines’, a UK government spokesman said. France's Europe minister Clement Beaune said, ‘If they stick to their guns, then we will ask the European Commission to begin a legal complaint’.

Since 1960 we have witnessed a move away from traditional norms and values connected to Christianity and embraced ‘new’ cultural values unrelated to religious conviction regarding marriage, sexuality, family, education, beginning and end of life. It is cultural liberalism, which calls itself progressive compared to ‘conservative’ traditional norms and values. Cultural liberalism is to live an ‘authentic’ life. Church, social environment and the state should give ‘me’ the freedom to live and act according to what ‘I’ feel and desire. What was wrong yesterday is acceptable today - which is described as ‘progress’. However, while cultural liberalism spreads in western Europe it meets resistance in eastern Europe, encouraging us that it may not be the inevitable future of European society. Christians are challenged to remain faithful to God’s Biblical commandments and Church principles. We have good arguments to expose weaknesses in cultural liberalism. We have the enormous power of prayer.