As the Government looks for a new owner for British Steel, Liberty Steel has been flagged as a potential buyer, with a clear interest in the Scunthorpe plant. At present 5,000 jobs are at risk: 3,000 at Scunthorpe, another 800 in north-eastern England, and the rest in various sites around the world. The workers’ wages this week have been paid, and the Government will pick up the bill from now on. Pray for the workforce, in Scunthorpe and elsewhere, now in shock; for the families with mortgages on their homes not knowing where their next paycheck will come from; and for local shop owners who rely on steelworkers for their income. Pray for vision, skill, and wise investment in the British steel industry, enabling it to flourish and for jobs to be retained. See

RSE (relationships and sex education) is a contentious issue. Several schools in Birmingham recently suspended the teaching of an LGBT+ inclusive programme, No Outsiders, after protests from parents. Stephen Fry and others wrote to the education secretary saying that political, religious and cultural sensitivities should not be allowed to thwart mandatory age-appropriate RSE from the first year of primary education. The signatories say that lessons should be LGBT+ inclusive and ‘inform older pupils about sexual pleasure for LGBT and how to achieve it for themselves and a partner’. They call for statutory enforcement of even more explicit teaching about sex; for further normalisation and promotion of homosexual behaviours and that same-sex, homosexual, and bisexual relations must be presented as equally valid, with no faith school opt out, or parental right of withdrawal. They said, ‘Our goal is to ensure that pupils leave school emotionally and sexually literate and able to enjoy fulfilling, caring and enduring relationships.’

Up to fifty patients who should be released, some with learning disabilities and autism, are stuck in secure units run by mental health hospital charities. St Andrew's Healthcare treats up to 900 patients with severe mental health and learning difficulties. 90% of referrals are from the NHS and need specialist care. However there is a lack of suitable community places, so seclusion is the emergency response. Seclusion rooms are bare, with a hatch in the door for patients to receive food and have physical contact. BBC TV footage showed a teenager locked in seclusion, able to touch their parent only through a door hatch. Patients are supposed to be admitted to these units for nine to 18 months, but the average stay nationally is five years. One patient was detained an extra 524 days after they should have been released.

Over forty representatives from a wide range of religious and non-religious backgrounds have written an open letter to the Home Secretary, warning against adopting a proposed definition of Islamophobia. They say the definition is ‘deeply problematic’ and ‘flawed’, and that officially adopting it could create ‘a backdoor blasphemy law’, restricting anyone from legitimately criticising Islamic beliefs or practices. Yet it has already been adopted by several political parties and local councils. One signatory, Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern, said, ‘The problem with the term “Islamophobia” is that it inevitably conflates the religion with the people. It may be that attempting to define this term in ways that will not restrict free speech turns out to be extremely difficult, if not impossible.’