This month marks 50 years of our nuclear weapons submarines sailing out of Faslane, Scotland. Powered by silent nuclear reactors, the submarines are designed to be undetectable. The Ministry of Defence wants a national celebration of the undoubted technical achievements of our Continuous At Sea …
Living incomes for cocoa producers
Ivorian cocoa farmer, Salimata, earns the equivalent of 75 pence a day. This is less than half what she and her family needs for a decent standard of life. Buying Fairtrade can provide a part of the answer for cocoa farmers like Salimata. But there is widespread agreement that industry and …
UK Foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt, tries to get Germany to reverse its decision to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia
The United Nations has stated that Yemen is on brink of “world’s worst famine in 100 years” if the Saudi-led backed war against Houthi forces is not stopped. The UN warned that at least 13 million lives are in jeopardy. The Saudi involvement in the aerial bombing campaign of civilian areas would not …
Following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi the UK must halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia
In August of this year Saudi Arabia faced an international outcry when dozens were killed when a Saudi missile hit a school bus in Yemen. However, the UK continues to do multi-million pound deals with Saudi Arabia, selling Typhoon jets for use in Yemen as well as other high end weapons …
Asia Bibi is free but religious minorities continue to suffer violence, discrimination and abuse in Pakistan
After 8 years held under sentence of death the Pakistan Supreme Court has acquitted Asia Bibi of the charge of blasphemy. Many members of our Churches have campaigned for her release and against the oppressive blasphemy law in Pakistan. False accusations of blasphemy have particularly harsh …
Church Action for Tax Justice
Church Action for Tax Justice was launched in the House of Lords on 17 April with the help of Rev Dr Rowan Williams and Methodist Church President Revd Michaela Youngson. It resources churches to include tax justice as a theme in their life and worship. Recently Archbishop Justin Welby …
“Dangerous and unnecessary” – On Hiroshima Day we highlight the Church of England’s new thinking on nuclear weapons
At a ceremony in Hiroshima this morning the Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr Kazumi Matsui, described the hellish scene of the blast that morning 73 years ago. Recounting the agony of the victims, he told the audience to listen "as if you and your loved ones were there." Sadly the possession of nuclear …
Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP, the death penalty and concerns around hypocrisy
It is the longstanding policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. But Parliament this week held an emergency debate following the revelation that the Government has compromised this policy. The government intends to provide evidence for a trial in …
Could Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un establish a relationship of trust?
The Trump/Kim summit due to take place in Singapore on Tuesday 12 June is a meeting of historic significance. There has never been a face-to-face meeting between a sitting US President and a leader of the North Korea (DPRK). If all goes well, we might see a plan for the de-escalation of …
Pulling the plug on the Iran deal
The complete collapse of the Iran deal would be disastrous[1] but could the Trump administration still score a foreign policy success with Iran? Donald Trump takes personal credit for Kim Jong-Un’s recent decision to halt missile and nuclear warhead testing. He was backed by most of the …