Governments do listen sometimes. The UK Government has stated today that it will attend next week’s conference in Vienna on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons. The UK boycotted the first two humanitarian impacts conferences but has come under much domestic pressure to join with 150 nation …
Homelessness and the Housing Crisis – Prayer Update November 2014
With Advent fast approaching, many Christians will be reflecting on the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. There was no welcome for a mother about to give birth to a unique child, ‘no room at the inn’ for the Light of the World. As John’s Gospel reminds us, this was to be the pattern of Jesus’ life: “He …
Personal Tax Summary: Redefining the words “Tax”, & “Welfare” while shaming the word “transparency”
In the story of the widow’s mite the authorities praise the rich man, while the widow, who gives proportionately much more of her money, is shunned. The Personal Tax Summaries due to be sent to 24 million people look like a modern day retelling of that story. By design the Personal Tax Summary …
Why Fast for the Climate? – Prayer Update October 2014
Saturday 1st November sees the launch of Pray and Fast for the Climate – a campaign calling on Christians to pray and fast on the first day of every month until December 2015 when Paris will host the 21st UN Climate Change summit. Fasting is a longstanding spiritual discipline within the …
Truth Justice Peace – Prayer update September 2014
Party conference season is once again upon us, and no doubt the airwaves will be filled with claims, promises, counter-claims and better promises as each party competes for our allegiance at the next general election. The party faithful will gather at a significant time in the political life of our …
DWP uses figure which says over 5 million go hungry to deny increased need for foodbanks
The DWP was faced with questions about why over 900,000 people needed help from Trussell Trust foodbanks last year – up from just over 340,000 the year before. The answer given has been used in literally hundreds of media outlets and is a master class in obfuscation, manipulation and …
Minister says charities should keep out of politics and stick to their knitting
“We really want to try and keep charities and voluntary groups out of the realms of politics,” Brooks Newmark MP, the new Minister for Charities said. “The important thing charities should be doing is sticking to their knitting”. We agree. So last month, up and down our country, thousands of …
‘Gambling: Sin, Vice or Legitimate Leisure Activity? Challenges for thoughtful Christians’
The 2014 Beckly Lecture took place on Tuesday 1 July at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, alongside the Methodist Conference. Philip Graf CBE, Chair of the Gambling Commission delivered the lecture entitled ‘Gambling: Sin, Vice or Legitimate Leisure Activity? Challenges for thoughtful …
Theology and other ways to waste time
In the second of this week’s blogs on child poverty, Nigel Varndell from The Children’s Society explains why they waste time on theology. According to the story, an American theologian once challenged his student class and his congregation to shout out the first word that came into their mind …
Why do we focus poverty on the young?
In the first of this weeks blogs on child povertywe look at why the youngest are also the poorest – and why this trend is set to intensify Children are the age group most likely to live in poverty. Children are the age-group hardest hit by austerity. We now have multiple reputable analyses – …