By 9am on 20 January large parts of England and Wales experienced severe rain disruption on roads and railways. 2,000 properties in Greater Manchester were evacuated overnight. More residents were evacuated in Wales and Merseyside as heavy rain and snow fell. High rivers called for warnings of danger to life at Didsbury, Northenden, and Maghull. Despite the best efforts of all agencies, more evacuations have been necessary, and people advised to evacuate must do so urgently. Pray for all needing rescuing to be reached, and for those ravaged by 2019 floods who are now watching water rise again. Covid-safe emergency centres are in leisure centres. There are 130 flood warnings and 225 flood alerts, and most of England, Wales and NI have yellow weather warnings. The Met Office said Christoph is not a traditional storm; most disruption is by rain, and ‘we are going to see further rain over the next 24 to 36 hours’.

The over 70s and ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ are now being called to vaccination appointments because of good progress being made. The vaccine program should lead to 'marked reductions' in deaths from early March. Excellent data from Israel records vaccinating 20% of the over-60s and two weeks later seeing a marked reduction in serious illness and deaths in that group. It is hoped that after mid-February we will see a marked reduction in death and serious illness. Because those most at risk of death are being prioritised for vaccination, hospital and death numbers could fall faster than case numbers. The vaccine deployment minister said that there are a lot of unknowns, and because of them he does not want to over-promise and under-deliver.

‘Jewish people today on campus can be tolerated, protected or abused. At no point are they treated as equals.’ (David Collier, Academia, 18 January) This Jew-hate, cloaked in anti-Zionism, is a doctrine claiming that the Jewish state, alone among the nations, has no right to exist. The Government has tried to persuade universities to adopt the threat of removal of funding streams, but this is often bitterly opposed by certain academic staff desperate to remain unchallenged in their bully pulpits. As of autumn 2020 only 29 of 133 higher education institutions had complied. Some British universities are now virtually free of Jews. This is a chilling indictment not just of British academia but of a liberal democratic society that has tolerated a wave of discrimination against Jews sweeping through universities over recent decades. In 1938 the leading Nazi student newspaper triumphantly proclaimed, ‘The goal is achieved! No more Jews at German universities.’

A number of elections will take place on 6 May, including those postponed in 2020. These will be for local councils, mayors, police and crime commissioners, and members of the London Assembly and the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. We can pray for the Lord of Heaven and earth to be in every preparation leading up to these elections. We are in a season of financial shaking and pandemic challenges. Pray for God to release an atmosphere of health, safety, security and wellbeing to the various cultural and ethnic groups in our society. God’s word states, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation’, so we can pray for Him to release His righteousness into every aspect of national and local government. May His purposes be fulfilled in and through every business and government department’s decision. Pray for honour and integrity to increase in all political agendas.