Isolated young adults with special needs
19 Nov 2020
Parents have spoken of the 'unbearable torture' of being separated from their disabled children and young adults living in care facilities. Tens of thousands of special needs children have been unable to touch or hug their parents and siblings since March. Many have severe disabilities which mean they are unable to speak. They cannot communicate properly through Zoom calls, only through eye contact and touch. But this is now impossible. Distraught parents, banned from seeing their children for months due to care home visiting rules, have pleaded with ministers to allow reunions before Christmas amid fears that thousands of vulnerable youngsters are suffering long-term harm. The youngsters are the hidden victims of what seems a callous policy that campaigners say is killing through loneliness. The Daily Mail is highlighting their plight in a Christmas campaign for all care residents to be allowed proper visits.
Seeds of prayer: hope for the countryside
19 Nov 2020
Hidden by other news, the Agriculture Bill 2020 (bit.ly/agbill20) has been bouncing between the Commons and the Lords for several months, but has now been finalised and received royal assent. The good news is that Lord Curry’s amendment, the setting up of a trade and agriculture commission, has been included. Its purpose is to protect the UK's higher standards of environmental protection, animal welfare, and food quality in farming and food production against imports produced to lower standards. Thank the Lord for godly intervention and pray for our Government and for those who work in our food industry (1 Timothy 2:1-4). The new legislation will bring substantial change in how farming and food production are supported; pray for our farmers as they adapt (Isaiah 28:24-29). Sadly, some rural chaplains report that recent months have seen an increase in levels of stress and suicides, especially amongst younger farmers.
The armed forces are protecting people in a broader range of areas than ever, including coronavirus testing. The UK military will receive £4bn a year over the next four years to fund space and cyber defence projects such as an artificial intelligence agency. This could create 40,000 new jobs. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said ‘The extra spending is on top of the government's manifesto to increase the budget. When I looked across at the armed forces today I saw them with equipment that was out-of-date, I saw our adversaries across the world having better equipment, the ability to attack us and harm us getting wider and wider from our capabilities. When that happens, you need to modernise your forces. Sometimes you must let go of some older capabilities and that takes money in order to create the headroom to invest.’
Christian sacked for defending marriage
19 Nov 2020
West End star Seyi Omooba is appealing against key decisions in her court case at an employment tribunal in London. She was removed from a lead role in a musical production and dropped by her agents after another actor dug up an old Facebook post where Seyi quoted the Bible and said she believed in real marriage between a man and a woman. The judges decided not to hear expert evidence from a theatre critic and theologian, and then made decisions which that evidence directly contradicted. The appeal was to be heard during the first lockdown, but an online hearing was refused, delaying the case to 2021, even though many other cases have been conducted online. The delay makes it harder for her to be vindicated.
Properly resourced minister for families needed
19 Nov 2020
In the House of Lords on 18 November, Lord Farmer called on the Government to prioritise the strengthening of families through policy. To do so, a properly resourced, cabinet-le0vel minister for families, supported by funding and civil servants, is needed to take the lead. This idea is supported by peers and MPs who are part of the 'Strengthening Families' coalition, which CARE supports.
Spain: strategy to combat online disinformation
19 Nov 2020
Spain's government has a new strategy to tackle the spread of online disinformation. The procedure was approved last month and a special government commission should combat the issue. Madrid said the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is accompanied by an ‘unprecedented infodemic’. Spanish authorities will monitor the internet for disinformation campaigns, investigate their origin, and implement a ‘policy response’ if necessary. This response may take the form of a diplomatic warning if a foreign state is behind such a campaign. The Madrid press association has accepted the government's wish to combat disinformation, but have noted a ‘clear risk’ that the government will act ‘as a censor rather than a guarantor of the truth’.
EU faces challenge to Covid budget
19 Nov 2020
In Brussels a high-stakes disagreement has emerged with a jackpot worth the total value of the EU budget until 2027 plus its €750bn Coronavirus Recovery fund. 24 member states and a majority in the EU Parliament are in opposition to Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia over the division of EU funds between member states being linked to the behaviour and the values of individual governments. The EU wants to pass a law that if a member state pursues policies that the EU feels are in conflict with its core values, it will lose access to the funds. Poland and Hungary emerged as democracies from communist dictatorship and both have gone on to elect right-wing nationalist governments, heavily dependent on EU funds. Political opposition and economic reliance has introduced a strain of toxicity into their Brussels relations.
Central America: ‘in the hands of God’
19 Nov 2020
Category 4 Hurricane Iota began devastating Nicaragua on 16 November. It is the strongest storm on record to reach Nicaragua ‘We are in the hands of God. If I have to climb up trees, I’ll do it’, said a farmer in Guatemala. ‘We don’t have food, but we are going to wait here for the hurricane that we’re asking God to stop from coming.’ It came. Swollen rivers burst their banks, roofs flipped onto the streets and electricity poles have been downed. In Honduras the mayor of Wampusirpi said, ‘We are flooded everywhere, we need food and water. We lost crops when hurricane Eta struck two weeks ago.’ Pray for the residents of Central America which is still partly flooded, farms destroyed and debris from Eta everywhere. The wind tore the roof off a makeshift hospital. Patients were evacuated, including intensive care and two women giving birth during the first rainstorm.