Displaying items by tag: British Isles

Christian MP Fiona Bruce has handed a petition to home secretary Priti Patel, to raise continued concerns about a Pakistani Christian girl, Maira Shahbaz. At just 14 she was kidnapped, forced into marriage and converted; she escaped, only to be forced into hiding after her abductor accused her of apostasy. More than 12,000 people signed an Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) petition calling on Boris Johnson to grant asylum to Maira. ACN’s press officer John Pontifex said, ‘We are extremely delighted that Fiona Bruce has once again taken the trouble to reach out to Priti Patel and make this fresh appeal on behalf of Maira. I have been in touch with Maira almost every day, sometimes talking about her situation. She says to me: “I feel like I am in a prison, I can’t go out, I’m stuck, I don’t have enough to eat. What can you do to help me?”’

Parents Sally and Nigel Rowe were warned that if their six-year-old child expressed confusion about another pupil wearing a dress and used incorrect pronouns it would be unacceptable behaviour. A letter from the headteacher and governors said that pupils risked being viewed as transphobic if they showed an inability to believe a transgender person is actually a ‘real’ female or male. The parents have withdrawn both their sons from the school and been granted permission for a judicial challenge to the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to provide the guidelines to state schools. A hearing is expected within six months, and the DfE is defending the claim. The parents withdrew their eldest son in 2015 after he became confused about another boy wearing girl's clothes. Two years later, they are raising the issue again after their second son was confused about another pupil who identified as ‘gender fluid’, alternating their appearance on various days of the week.

In 2020 staff at 74 universities held a 14-day strike over pensions, pay, and conditions. Now staff at 68 UK universities will be taking part in a wave of strike action over the next three weeks. Some are striking over pay and conditions, others over pensions: but for most taking action, it is over both. The University and College Union, which represents staff at institutions across the UK, has demanded a £2,500 pay increase for members, an end to ‘pay injustice’ and zero-hours contracts, and action to tackle ‘unmanageable workloads’. The dispute over pensions has been rumbling on for over a decade, but has been reignited by a valuation of a pension scheme used by academic staff - the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Those involved in the action include some of the UK's biggest in terms of student numbers - such as the Open University, University College London, and the University of Manchester.

The actress Samantha Morton has accused the Government of being ‘neglectful’ towards 16 and 17-year-olds in care. The law changed in September 2021 so that under-16s are in regulated settings like children's homes or foster care. But others go into supported or semi-independent accommodation such as a hostel. The charity Article 39 said that 22 children aged 16 and 17 in supported accommodation died between 2018 and 2020. The charity said the policy was discriminatory and ministers had not properly consulted youths placed in supported accommodation. It recently took the Government to court. Judgment is expected in the next few weeks. A 15-year-old living in a very supportive environment would be moved when they turn 16 into rented, shared accommodation alongside someone who may have been released from prison with a tag. Article 39's director said extensive research showed children in this type of housing are vulnerable to criminal or sexual exploitation. Many feel lonely, isolated and abandoned when placed in properties on their own.

Donna Anderson loved living near the Trent and Mersey canal, but when it rained her garden was flooded with sewage from the canal and nearby streams. She has had to install extra drainage. It is believed the culprit is Severn Trent Water dumping sewage once a month on average into Barton-under-Needwood stream. This is not a nasty isolated incident. Dozens of people’s lives are blighted by raw effluent being pumped into rivers, canals and streams by water companies across the country. Water companies can discharge raw sewage into rivers in ‘exceptional circumstances’ of heavy rainfall which could cause flooding, but it is happening with alarming regularity. In 2020, sewage spilled into rivers 403,171 times, with serious consequences. Sewage is damaging the quality of over a third of rivers. The Daily Telegraph is calling for action to protect England’s waterways from devastating pollution: see

Amnesty International’s recent report accusing Israel of ‘apartheid’ is ‘a shameful misrepresentation of Israel’s diverse and dynamic society’, said the Israeli embassy in London, describing it as antisemitic. ‘We do not agree with the use of this terminology’, a Foreign Office spokesperson said. The UK has joined other countries who have spoken out against the Amnesty report, calling it ‘false, biased, and antisemitic’ and endangering the safety of Jews around the world. Israel’s foreign ministry said Amnesty UK was ‘corrupted by racism and xenophobia’. Its foreign minister said Amnesty was no longer ‘a respected organisation’, but the opposite. ‘It echoed propaganda without checking the facts. Instead of seeking the truth Amnesty echoes the same lies as terrorist organisations.’ Meanwhile anti-Semitism in 2021 is 'the worst year on record': see

On 10 February Boris Johnson met the head of the NATO defence alliance in Brussels and then travelled to Poland in support of NATO allies. He warned that the Ukraine-Russia crisis is at its ‘most dangerous moment’ and that war would be an ‘absolute disaster’. Russia is still massing troops on its neighbour's borders and in Belarus. In Moscow Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said that continued ‘aggression’ will lead to ‘severe consequences’, but at the same news conference her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov accused the West of ‘hysteria’. Moscow wants the West to rule out Ukraine ever joining NATO - but Boris Johnson said that every European democracy must retain that right. Johnson warned that the possibility of an invasion ‘remains grim.’

Last week you prayed for ‘wise costing and balancing by energy firms, oil giants and the government so that the cost of living remains stable’, after oil giant Shell announced profits four times higher than last year. This week BP reported its highest profit for eight years. The very same energy prices that have spelt crippling bills for consumers have prompted BP's boss to describe his operation right now as a ‘cash machine’. A combination of resurgent demand and geopolitical tensions means that wholesale gas prices are five times higher than before the pandemic - while oil prices have almost doubled. BP and Shell could make £40bn in profits this year, enough to cover the energy bills of the majority of UK households, renewing calls for a windfall tax. But the Chancellor fears it could damage investment in lower-carbon forms of energy, because energy giants' profits, tied as they are to global prices, are very volatile.

The Charity Commission is to review the accounts of the charity set up in honour of Captain Sir Tom Moore, who raised almost £33m for the NHS. Accounts show the Captain Tom Foundation gave out grants of £160,000 to four charities but spent more than £162,000 in management costs in its first year. Its financial statement also showed reimbursement costs of £16,097 paid to Club Nook Limited, a company run by Hannah Ingram-Moore, Captain Tom's daughter. These costs were said to be for accommodation, security and transport relating to Captain Sir Tom ‘travelling around the UK to promote the charity’. The foundation said it welcomed the commission's input.

‘It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid’, Boris Johnson has said. ‘Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions - including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive - a full month early.’ The law will be replaced with guidance; for example, people will be urged not to go to work if they have Covid. The PM added, ‘The self-isolation regulations expire on 24 March, at which point I very much expect not to renew them. Indeed, were the data to allow, I would like to seek a vote in this House to bring that date forwards’ Downing Street also suggested there could be an update on the remaining travel rules when Mr Johnson sets out his ‘living with Covid strategy’ later this month.