Theresa May has called for a ‘new culture of respect’. In this challenging time for our Parliament, we can intercede for all our leaders to begin to demonstrate the Kingdom values of respect, moral uprightness, financial integrity, truthfulness and wisdom. We can cry out for a fresh move of God’s Holy Spirit to touch minds and hearts so that the guilty are convicted and repent, victims see justice, and all corruption and scandals are removed to make way for a new Kingdom culture to be established at the centre of political life. Pray that God will cause the Prime Minister’s spoken words to become a self-fulfilling prophecy: ‘a place in which everyone can feel confident that they are working in a safe and secure environment, where complaints can be brought forward without prejudice and victims know that these complaints will be investigated properly’.

Evin is a brutal and infamous prison. Dorothy Parvaz, who was held there in 2011, said detainees face daily cross-examinations, with constantly changing conditions in attempts to trick prisoners to admit to alleged crimes in a psychological battle. In May 2016 we reported on a campaign to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a Christian British charity worker held in Evin prison. A petition was given to David Cameron to act on her behalf for early release. But she was given a five-year sentence for ‘attempting to topple the government’. Now, foreign secretary Boris Johnson has told the House of Commons that she was ‘teaching Iranians journalism’. It was an incorrect statement which could cause Iran to double her five-year sentence. Nazanin suffers depression from being separated from her husband and three-year-old daughter. Boris’s latest blunder has provoked an online petition accusing him of being unfit for the job, lacking attention to detail, a threat to British people, and damaging overseas relations. It calls for his resignation.

Churches and faith groups have urged the Government to be strong on reforms to fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). While they welcomed its recent announcement of a consultation on proposed changes to gaming machines, they warned that the range of options for a maximum stake for FOBTs was too wide. They believe that if the maximum stake is radically reduced, from the current £100 maximum to £2, this will help to reduce the potentially enormous financial loss some people experience, and therefore the consequences - which include debt, depression and crime. They urged the Government to view gambling addiction as a public health issue, stating, ‘The Department of Health must engage with gambling addiction strategically, at the levels of prevention and also treatment for individuals.’

This month Christian organisations are seeking to encourage the Church to pray for fellow believers who suffer because of their faith. Around the world, Christians risk harassment, discrimination, imprisonment and even death simply for trying to live out their faith or worship together. This has become such a significant issue that Release International, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and the Evangelical Alliance have joined together to form the Religious Liberty Commission. The RLC focuses on encouraging Christians to pray for brothers and sisters across the globe who suffer and are persecuted because of their faith. While it enables the member organisations to speak as one voice for persecuted Christians, it does not claim to be the only voice and action group for them, and very much welcomes the fact that others are also doing excellent work in this area (see the next article).