Amanda Gordon, Coordinator of Cumbria Agricultural Chaplaincy, writes about her experience of climate change amongst rural communities. Rural communities are an inherent part of the land – not only do they live amongst it, but also often derive a livelihood from it. It is inevitable, …
Reflections on Living Lent
(or 'The joys of a naked cucumber') Naomi and her husband Luke took up the challenge to go ‘plastic-free’ during Lent. Here, Naomi reflects on what might happen next. Since Lent began, nothing in our kitchen has been quite what it seems. Cake tins are stuffed with fusilli, jam jars are …
50 Years of Continuous At Sea Deterrence: What is there to celebrate?
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 …
One week poverty rises: The next we cut benefits
Announcements you may have missed: Wednesday 27 March: Government announces that life expectancy falls for the poorest women in the UK. Dropping life expectancy in peacetime is extraordinary. The gap in life expectancy between rich and poor is also increasing, as is the gap in healthy …
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 …
Measuring Hunger – a big win for campaigners, and it’s only the beginning…
On Wednesday the news broke that the Government was going to measure the level of hunger in the UK. This is a major victory for supporters of the End Hunger UK campaign, including the four Churches which work together in the Joint Public Issues Team. More importantly the scale of hunger in the UK …
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 …
Amber Rudd’s statement on Universal Credit: So welcome and so inadequate.
I cannot remember when a statement was so welcome, so infuriating and so inadequate all at the same time. Before Monday the Government’s stock answer on foodbanks was that the reasons for foodbank use were “complex” so it was unfair to blame Universal Credit. The new answer appears to be that …
In defence of 0.7%
In response to government discussion around cutting the 0.7% foreign aid budget, Will discusses its relevance for today, and for the gospel. Few government departments are subject to such rigorous scrutiny over their spending as the Department for International Development (DfID). Nevertheless, …
Why work should be part of welcome
Over the last six weeks, our series of blogs have been exploring what it means to offer a welcoming environment to refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants. Today, Simeon Mitchell argues that giving people seeking asylum the right to work should be part of offering a proper welcome to those …