“How you doin’?” This famous line from Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc in the late 90s and early 2000s American sitcom Friends, often brings a smile to those who recall the antics that would entail. When we are asked this simple question, our programmed responses are usually, "I’m fine, thanks. How …
MIND THE GAP: Can we build bridges across the political divide?
At the Joint Public Issues Team, we orient our work around six hopes for society, one of which is that politics will be characterised by listening, kindness and truthfulness. Politics has always been a mucky business. However, the 24-hour media cycle, the ability to carry the news around in our …
Global military spending reaches all-time high
On 22 April the global military spending figures for the 2023 were released, and perhaps unsurprisingly, spending has increased across the world, with total global military expenditure reaching $2443 billion in 2023.[1] For the first time, all five continents saw an increase in military expenditure, …
Is Britain suffering from “sick note culture” or from unhelpful rhetoric and tired old policy?
The Prime Minister’s speech and press release on disability benefits last week was depressingly familiar. The formula of “moral mission”, “unsustainable cost”, “toughen-up testing” followed by a bit of “they are gaming the system” has been used repeatedly over the past decade – a decade in which the …
Don’t use asylum seekers as a ‘political football’, warn church leaders
Senior leaders from the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches have joined Anglican and Catholic Bishops to express their gratitude for those who work alongside refugees and asylum seekers, in the face of rising hostility and unjust malignment of this support from some quarters in recent …
Churches express outrage at the Rwanda Bill
An open letter, signed by over 250 organisations from across civil society in the UK, including the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches and the Church of Scotland, has been sent to the Prime Minister following the passing of the Government’s Rwanda Act. The organisations have come …
Is it “mental health culture” or hunger that has gone too far?
“Mental health culture has gone too far, says Mel Stride” said a headline in the Daily Telegraph two weeks ago. In the article below it the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions outlined his view that a significant factor in the post-pandemic increase in people not at work due to mental ill …
Sharpest increase in UK poverty for 30 years
The new government statistics on UK poverty make for horrendous reading. The median UK household got poorer by 1.5% after housing costs. However, behind that average hides a story of those with the most getting more, and those with the least having even less. This is a familiar pattern, however …
Myanmar: Remembering a Forgotten Conflict
Our churches recently issued prayers for Myanmar to mark three years since the 2021 Myanmar coup. For the people of Myanmar, this marks three years of living under repressive military rule. Three years of civil war. Three years of civilians being targeted, injured and brutally killed. Three years …
The Budget: a masterclass in ignoring poverty
The headline measure in the Budget was a 2p cut in National Insurance. This gives the bottom fifth of earners around £350m a year, however the top fifth of earners will receive over 10 times more – more than £4Bn. This tax cut costs £10Bn a year and is the largest financial decision in the budget by …