Flood prevention
21 Feb 2020
More rain is falling on flood-hit communities, adding to fears that rising river levels might overwhelm flood defences. By 20 February 1,400 homes and businesses were affected by floods following Storm Dennis, and 120 flood warnings remained in place, including six severe or danger-to-life one. Rivers are recording their highest-ever levels. Pray for the residents who are crying out for more to be done to stop repeat flooding. After 2015’s floods millions were invested in river flood defences. A Calder Valley flood victim spoke for hundreds when he said, ‘We can't carry on like this. We've got to stop the flooding problem at its source. That's the only way we are going to survive.’ More work needs to be done to slow down the rivers flowing off the moors, causing villages to flood. DEFRA is now creating a peat strategy (see) and ‘Slowing the Flow’, which improves drainage with bales of heather run-off; increasing rain absorbance by peat, improving land condition and cutting carbon emissions.
Living Lent: caring for creation
21 Feb 2020
In 2019 ‘Living Lent’ was produced by the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, the Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church. It continues in 2020, inviting Christians to make radical changes for the climate during Lent. Our lifestyles and choices mean we have played a role in damaging creation. Churches are responding to the climate crisis with Lent activities which include a lifestyle change - inviting people to make a positive commitment towards change, developing habits that last long after the forty days. Participants, starting on Ash Wednesday, will use daily reflections to explore how our faith and concern for creation connect, through the Bible, through art and through poetry. Individuals will support each other as a dispersed community, for example on Facebook and Twitter through the hashtag #livinglent2020. Also,, the Church of England 2020 ‘Live Lent’ course focuses on care for creation and on protecting the earth from climate change. See
Failing people with learning disabilities
21 Feb 2020
On 12 February the Equalities and Human Rights Commission launched a legal challenge against Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, over the repeated failure to move people with learning disabilities and autism into appropriate accommodation. It stated, ‘We have long-standing concerns about the rights of more than 2,000 people with learning disabilities and autism being detained in secure hospitals, often far away from home and for many years. We have sent a pre-action letter to Mr Hancock, arguing that his department has breached the European Convention of Human Rights by failing to meet the targets set in tts Transforming Care and Building the Right Support programmes. These targets include moving patients from inappropriate in-patient care to community-based settings, and reducing the reliance on in-patient care for people with learning disabilities and autism.’
BMA poll on assisted suicide
21 Feb 2020
The British Medical Association is polling members on its policy on assisted suicide. Since 2006 it has been officially opposed to all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, if that changes as a result of this poll and the BMA goes 'neutral', some will see that as a green light for a dangerous change in the law. Politicians are unquestionably influenced by what medical bodies think, so it is vital for as many BMA members as possible to take the opportunity to express their support for continued opposition. Last week, a large group of doctors spoke out against shifting to neutral. Please join with us in praying that the BMA will remain opposed, and that the plans of those pushing for a law change will be stopped.
Human trafficking in Scotland
21 Feb 2020
Praise God for Operation Risbalit. Four people have been charged as part of a probe into human trafficking in Scotland. The probe was supported by national counter-terror and financial crime experts, and led by Edinburgh's public protection unit. Thank God that identifying human trafficking and supporting victims of such offences is a top priority for Police Scotland. Pray that this would send a powerful message of deterrence to would-be traffickers in Scotland and across the UK. On 26 February IJM begins #SlaveFreeLent. Please pray for hundreds to sign up, and for this to become a mass movement to shed light on hidden slavery in our supply chains.
Britain and EU will ‘rip each other apart’
21 Feb 2020
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, says that EU and UK negotiators are likely to rip each other apart, with the two sides expected to fight particularly hard over fishing rights and financial services. He says it will be tough for Britain to achieve its aim of a free trade deal by the end of the year, given the differences between the two sides. As 27 EU states draw up their mandate for future relationships, France is expected to call for a tough stance. Pray for fair legislative control over UK agriculture and fisheries. See
Driving on wrong side of US air base road
21 Feb 2020
A new video has emerged on social media of a car being driven on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton, near where 19-year-old Harry Dunn died when a car driving on the wrong side of the road hit him. The suspected driver left the UK under diplomatic immunity. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo rejected the UK's request for the driver’s extradition. A joint statement released by the police and the base said that additional provisions are to be introduced, and both parties are doing all that they can to prevent any future harm on the roads in and around the site. Meanwhile Harry Dunn’s family said that the video is evidence that a further tragedy is inevitable. They believe that the police and the US air force are ‘failing to acknowledge that there is a problem’.
France: military action in Mali
21 Feb 2020
Mali was under French colonial rule until early 1959, when it assumed independence. However, France has 5,500 troops there working to keep the peace. Now France’s defence minister has said they will boost its military presence in the area to counter increasing violence carried out by armed groups. 600 additional troops will be deployed by March. On 14 February at least 40 people were killed in Ogossagou, the Fulani village that was targeted in a massacre of 160 people last year by Dogon militiamen. Huts and crops were set alight, livestock burned or taken away, and 28 people are missing. Clashes between the Dogon and Fulani ethnic groups are frequent, compounding a dire security situation in Mali's semi-arid and desert regions, where attacks by armed groups are common. See also