Change in mood at No 10
12 Nov 2020
Most people haven’t heard of Lee Cain but the resignation of the prime minister's top aide raises the question of whether it heralds a changing of the guard and a new Johnson era, now that Brexit is almost done. Mr Cain is part of the Vote Leave team that has dominated the PM’s first 18 months in office. He and Dominic Cummings have shaped his premiership more closely than anyone else, with an iron grip on the operation of No 10. But during that time, relations have soured between Downing Street and many ministers, as well as many Conservative MPs concerned about the leaks, the U-turns and the way things are run. Pray for the Holy Spirit to make a clean sweep through parliament, replacing ‘power struggles’ with harmony and positive influence based on facts. Pray for a new era in which government ministers practise peaceful relationships where there has been tension.
Christmas travel plans for students
12 Nov 2020
Revd Naomi Nixon, CEO of the Student Christian Movement, has criticised the Government's plans to get English university students home before Christmas. This was in reaction to a travel window, between 3 and 9 December, for students to go home in evacuation-styled staggered time slots. In-person teaching is also due to end. She said the procedure is brutal and confusing; treating students differently from everyone else in society. What if students have exams after the cut-off date, or live off-campus? Are students living in regular housing and streets to be treated differently from other people living in that street travelling at Christmas? Will students who have expensive train or plane tickets falling outside the travel window be refunded? There will be students isolating after a positive test, and students who have left foster care and are now 18 with nowhere to go.
Brexit border concerns
12 Nov 2020
The ‘Haulier Handbook’ (to prevent Brexit border meltdown) is a guide to the mountain of new red tape required to transport goods across borders. It was promised in early September but will now not be fully available until 7 December, three weeks before it is needed. Logistics UK, representing freight groups, warned that time is running out to prevent ‘lorry queues at Dover and empty shelves in Northern Ireland’ when the transition period ends in 50 days’ time. ‘With the economy still reeling from handling the impact of Covid-19, the last thing UK plc needs is another major shock of our own making,’ said the Logistics director of policy. Construction of border inspection posts for checks on animal products crossing the Irish Sea has not yet started, and will take up to six months to complete.
Second wave will be more gruelling
12 Nov 2020
UK doctors have been warned the second coronavirus wave will be ‘gruelling professionally and personally’ with increased pressure throughout the winter. NHS chiefs and all four British medical officers have written to medics urging them to brace for a ‘prolonged’ Covid-19 outbreak over the coming weeks or even months. Healthcare professionals will have to be flexible, which ‘may entail working in unfamiliar circumstances or surroundings, or working in clinical areas outside of their usual practice.’ Their warning comes as Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing that England’s lockdown will not be extended. He insisted, ‘When the current national measures come to an end on 2 December, we will be returning to a regional tiered approach.’ Pray for rapid tests to speed up a return to normal life. Pray for God to inspire peace and remove the fear caused by continual negative media updates. Also, pray for the encouragement caused by news of the Pfizer vaccine to become reality.
The inquiry into gambling laws promised in the election manifesto should have begun this month. But the culture and media department now says it is ‘not imminent’. The UK betting industry has seen revenues surge to £14.5billion a year because of lax regulations and more gambling on smartphones. Not getting this review under way now will be a matter of life and death for hundreds of families. Two gambling addicts take their own life every day, with many more left bankrupt. One in ten children admit gambling with their own money. The Government is under pressure to curb advertising, prevent punters spending thousands online, and help the 55,000 children suffering from addiction. Richard Holden, a Tory member of a Commons committee which has investigated gambling, said, ‘The fact that the most senior civil servant in the culture department now seems to be backing away from getting the gambling review started is very worrying.’
Church pastor deception
12 Nov 2020
Mariam Mbula is currently senior pastor with Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church (SPAC Nation). Its leaders, including Mariam, encourage young congregants to take out loans and give huge sums to the church. The church was founded by Tobi Adegboyega, who is worth 2.5million and drives a £150,000 Rolls-Royce - number plate PA5TOR. An investigation is under way into fraud allegations and offences relating to individuals associated with SPAC. The church denies financially exploiting young people, saying it has a ‘robust complaints procedure’ and ‘well-run disciplinary system’ and ‘is not responsible for what goes on inside individual leaders' or members' houses’. It attracts large numbers of BAME and helps them leave a life of gangs, drugs and knife crime. For a documentary, see For background, see
Post-Brexit trade talks to continue
12 Nov 2020
Negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU are expected to continue next week as the deadline draws nearer. The two sides resumed talks in London this week, with a UK government source saying they were in the ‘final stage’. But big gaps still remain, and the UK described the EU’s position on fishing access as ‘wholly unrealistic’. Boris Johnson is prepared to move forward without a deal. If nothing is agreed, the UK will trade with the bloc on World Trade Organisation rules - leading to tariffs on many imports and exports, which could push up costs for businesses and consumers. Both sides say they want to avoid this outcome, but the EU will not do a deal ‘at any price’. Mr Johnson said the UK will prosper either way.
Greece: another refugee camp fire at Samos
12 Nov 2020
According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are approximately 19,600 migrants and refugees on the Aegean islands as of 8 November. A series of large blazes destroyed Greece's largest migrant camp, Moria on the island of Lesbos, back in September. The Greek authorities said that the fires were deliberately started by the camp's residents. Officials on Samos reported a similar fire at a migrant camp on 2 November, the second blaze to hit such a facility over the last ten days. The cause of this fire has not yet been determined, and the number of migrant tents destroyed by the blaze is not yet known.