GOD IS MOVING!
30 Sep 2016
There's only a month to go until Christians from across the nations gather for Trumpet Call at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham, at 2pm on 15 October. It's a time to worship and pray for God’s will to be done and His Kingdom to come in and throughout the UK, our continent, and our world! Prayer Alert readers are encouraged to come and engage powerfully with God. Over a hundred leaders of different churches, networks and ministries will meet on the morning of that day to stand in unity to worship and prepare the way for the King of Kings. ‘His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him, and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.’ (Eph. 3:10-12)
Christian Labour MP prays for party unity
30 Sep 2016
Alex Cunningham, the MP for Stockton North and a Christian, has asked God to help bring the party together after the unsuccessful leadership challenge by Owen Smith. He was speaking after Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected leader of the Labour Party, winning 62% of the vote. Mr Corbyn said, ‘I will do everything I can to bring our party together, to make it an engine of progress for our country and the people that depend on the Labour Party to protect their interests, and win power to deliver real change in this country. We have much more in common than that which divides us.’ Alex Cunningham said, ‘My prayer for the party is for unity, first and foremost.’
New science and faith projects
30 Sep 2016
Scientists are taking vicars on tours of laboratories and addressing church services as part of a series of projects designed to foster better understanding between science and faith. CofE vicars in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire will tour laboratories with Christian science professionals, while scientists address Sunday services and church discussion forums on science and faith. ‘Take Your Vicar to the Lab’ is one of eight projects helping churchgoers engage confidently with science, raising the profile of Christians whose vocation is science-related, and changing the debate about science and faith in churches and communities. There will be a science, medicine and technology festival at Ely Cathedral; café-style discussion evenings with students and science professionals in Baptist churches in Leeds; a family science and faith club at parishes in Oxfordshire; 100 scientific activities for Messy Church sessions; and booklets encouraging young people to explore the Isle of Man Cathedral gardens from a science and faith perspective.
'Suicidal calls' made to tax credits firm
30 Sep 2016
A firm used by the Government to cut tax credit payments has received calls from ‘suicidal’ clients. A whistle-blower said most staff weren't even trained to deal with such calls and staff were not offered counselling but were instead told, ‘Have a smoke - you'll be fine.’ But US firm Concentrix said that its staff are trained in accordance with Government guidelines, and ‘are supported as much as possible where we have encountered this type of scenario.’ Concentrix was awarded a £75m contract by the department responsible for collecting taxes and paying out certain benefits to help cut tax credit fraud and overpayment. It will not have its two-year contract renewed next year. A member of the company's Belfast office said, ‘The 600 workers were yelled at every day by clients, with people crying down the phone to you that they're down to their last bag of wipes or have no food in the fridge to feed their kids’.
Brexit and Scotland's global standing
30 Sep 2016
Brexit will ‘enhance’ Scotland's standing in the world rather than diminish it, Theresa May has said. In a column in Holyrood magazine, the Prime Minister said the Brexit talks were an exciting chance to forge a new role in the world. Mrs May said Scotland's financial expertise, shipbuilding prowess and food and drink could be global leaders. The SNP said this was jaw-dropping hypocrisy, accusing her government of chaos and confusion over Brexit. In June's EU referendum, Scottish voters backed Remain by 62%, the stated preference of Nicola Sturgeon's government. Writing in the Daily Telegraph Alex Neil, formerly a member of Ms Sturgeon's cabinet, said leaving the EU provides a ‘golden opportunity’ to win new devolved powers for Holyrood.
Prevent anti-extremism strategy
30 Sep 2016
British Muslims should be given a new way of reporting hate crimes that bypasses the police because the Government’s controversial Prevent anti-extremism strategy has ruined trust between the two parties, Andy Burnham has suggested. Labour’s shadow home secretary called for a root and branch review of the system, and said the true scale of Islamophobic hate crimes was being hidden because Muslims were reticent to report such crimes to Prevent. He compared Prevent to the French ban on the burkini swimming costume and said it singles out one community for different treatment. He said such an approach risked legitimising or inspiring Islamophobic hate crime. Pupils are afraid to speak up in class in case they're seen as extremist. Earlier this year the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of assembly warned that Prevent could actually end up promoting extremism, describing it as a ‘Big Brother’ approach.
Poland: law banning all abortions?
30 Sep 2016
Currently, abortion is illegal in this predominantly Catholic country except in cases of rape, incest, if the life of the mother is in danger, or in cases of severe foetal deformities. Polish legislators are considering a bill that would ban abortion and make getting or performing an abortion a punishable offence. Pro-abortion groups have raised support for a bill which would legalise abortion on demand up to twelve weeks’ gestation. They claim that restricting abortion and punishing doctors who perform abortions and women who get abortions force women to choose between giving birth to an unwanted baby or going to jail. Their pro-abortion bill has gained about 215,000 signatures. Meanwhile, this spring a pro-life bill was introduced. It is citizen-led, and has collected about 450,000 signatures of support. The new bill, if signed into law, would make abortion illegal in all cases except when the life of the mother is endangered.
France: the Great Wall of Calais
30 Sep 2016
Building work has begun on a wall in Calais to prevent migrants from stowing away on cars, trucks, ferries and trains bound for Britain. Dubbed ‘The Great Wall of Calais,’ the concrete barrier half a mile long and 13 feet high on both sides of the two-lane highway approaching the harbour will pass within a few hundred metres of ‘the Jungle’ housing more than 10,000 migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East trying to reach Britain. The wall is due to be completed by the end of 2016. Around 200 migrants from Calais are successfully smuggled into Britain each week according to police estimates. Migrants create roadblocks to slow trucks. When trucks stop, they climb aboard the vehicles heading to the Channel Tunnel or ferries. Many of the migrants who are turned away move to the Jungle and try over and over again. The image of Calais today in the media is very negative.