School holidays, hungry children
28 Jul 2017
Foodbanks are appealing for more food than normal; the school holidays have started. For many parents, the summer holidays bring fresh challenges for meagre budgets. The Trussell Trust handed out 4,412 more three-day emergency food parcels for children last July and August than during the previous two months. Almost half go to primary school pupils, and 27% to children, including babies, under the age of four. School holidays financially stretch families struggling to get by. Without free school meals, and with extra childcare costs, families who just about stay afloat risk going under. There is a food poverty crisis in the UK, and the government is starved of ideas. In 2016 teachers reported children returning to school in September sluggish and visibly thinner. Pray for the parents skipping meals, or working out the smallest number of calories they can get by on, or only eating what is left on their children’s plates.
Grenfell Tower highlights inequality
28 Jul 2017
Nearly two thousand homes are empty near the Grenfell Tower, while 100+ families are homeless. Kensington and Chelsea Council, which owns the tower, revealed that dozens of vacant homes may have been empty for 11 to 15 years. 260 properties stand vacant in southern parts of the borough, the opposite end to Grenfell in the poorer north. These vacant homes are associated with the ‘buy-to-leave’ phenomenon, which involves super-rich foreigners buying high-end properties not to live in, but as an investment. The fire has revealed a terrible message about social inequality in today’s cities. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faced controversy when he called for Kensington homes left vacant by rich overseas investors to be ‘requisitioned’ for survivors, calling the borough ‘a tale of two cities’.
Christian NHS worker’s legal battle
28 Jul 2017
On 27 July Victoria Wasteney attended court in the next stage of her long legal battle. As head of forensic occupational therapy at a London hospital she was suspended for 'gross misconduct' for nine months and received a written warning, following allegations of 'harassment and bullying' by a Muslim staff-member. She appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal when the judge recognised the significance of her case in protecting religious freedom. The judge said that the tribunal should consider whether the original ruling had properly applied the European Convention on Human Rights' strong protection of freedom of religion and expression. When she lost her appeal, Victoria applied for permission to appeal the tribunal's decision to the Court of Appeal, but this was refused. She is now seeking to challenge this, with support from Christian Concern.
Care of the vulnerable is a measure of a civilised society. Care home placements for adults with complex needs are assessed and funded according to the nature and severity of mental/physical disability. T is unable to speak, has severe autism and epilepsy, and has been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to make decisions. He needs specialist care. He was stabbed 20+ times by another resident in his previous accommodation and had been moved to Hillgreen. JL, by contrast, is a predatory sex abuser, has mild learning disabilities, no mental disorder and a long history of sexual offending. He was transferred to Hillgreen while awaiting trial, charged with raping an autistic woman in his previous home. The two should never have been living under the same roof. Everyone at Hillgreen was aware of the risk JL posed. Outside the care home he was permanently under supervision. Inside, despite many warnings, he was subject to no such restrictions. JL raped T.
UK-EU freedom of movement 'to end in March 2019'
28 Jul 2017
A new immigration system will be in place by March 2019 when the free movement of people between the EU and the UK ends, said immigration minister Brandon Lewis, as the government commissioned a detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of EU migrants. That report is expected in September 2018, six months before Brexit. Home secretary Amber Rudd has promised business there will be no ‘cliff edge’ on immigration; the government's final EU migration policy will be drawn up after the committee has produced its report. In the meantime there will be an ‘implementation phase’ which will involve new EU workers registering their details when they come to the UK. Immigration was one of the central topics of last year's EU referendum campaign. Pray for God to be in the midst of all the extensive consultations that will need to take place as government ministers listen to the views of businesses, unions and universities.
Prayer needs of Europe
28 Jul 2017
Holiday venues: pray for God to pour out his blessings on all the Christian summer camps for youth and adults during the next few weeks. Pray for protection from terror attacks wherever people gather this season. French politics: may God give grace to President Macron, who secured a majority in the National Assembly last month. He must seize a small window of opportunity for radical economic change, while not falling into the same trap as President Sarkozy, who faced a wave of paralyzing strikes after unveiling his first radical proposals. Pray for Macron to reverse France’s decline through wise management of the National Assembly. Migration crisis: pray for European and African ministers trying to regularise the flow of refugees from Africa to Europe, coupled with a much tougher strategy to deport illegal migrants from Italy and break up smuggling rings. See:
Poland's constitutional crisis
28 Jul 2017
The limits of the EU’s integrationist ambitions are being exposed by a fight between Poland’s hard-line conservative government and the European Commission, because Poland is failing to maintain the ‘rule of law’. There has long been a simmering east-west split over migration, and fundamental values have burst into open warfare. Many believe this constitutional crisis could pull Europe apart. Poland is accused of reneging on the commitment it made to maintain ‘stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law and human rights’. An Article 7 sanction procedure will be triggered against Poland if it fails to address concerns over judicial reforms or starts firing Supreme Court judges. On 26 July the European Commission set a one-month deadline for the Warsaw government to ‘solve all the problems identified’ in its judicial overhaul. The commission also set a red line for Poland, ‘if it decides to fire any of the Supreme Court judges’. Poland criticised the threats from the EU to halt their voting rights in the bloc as ‘blackmail’.
USA and UK aggression
28 Jul 2017
‘A Study of War’ reports that from 1480 to 1940 England or the UK was involved in 77 of the 278 wars involving European countries. That percentage, 28%, is more than any other nation. The USA has been at war at home or somewhere in the world 219 years out of her 240 years of existence. On 24 July Donald Trump’s senior military officer warned, ‘A strike against North Korea is not unimaginable’. Pray for Donald Trump to be a man of peace facing down warmongers. Meanwhile, Theresa May has been urged to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia. An Independent survey found that an overwhelming majority of the public are against Britain supplying billions of pounds of weapons to the kingdom. Since bombing Yemen began in 2015, the UK has licensed £3.3bn worth of arms, including £1.1bn worth of ML4 licences, which relate to bombs, missiles, and other explosives. See