Churches challenge Government on food poverty
Hundreds of churches have joined a campaign for ‘the right to food’ as an estimated two million people in the UK are malnourished and three million at risk of becoming so. Church Action on Poverty has initiated a campaign for the right to food for all families in Britain. The Government is legally bound by international human rights law to secure enough food for everyone, but the Trussell Trust has fed over one million people between 2014-15 via food banks. They attribute that to a number of things, but in particular benefit delays, benefit changes and low income. They say that churches and charities operate foodbanks and offer food parcels to hundreds of thousands of people, but this cannot be a long-term solution. A growing list of organisations have called for stronger and more coordinated action, to provide food aid and to press national and local government to secure everybody's human right to adequate food.
Anti-money-laundering system needs a radical overhaul
A radical overhaul of the UK’s anti-money-laundering system is needed if the UK is to close the door to the billions of pounds in corrupt money coming into the country every year, according to a report by Transparency International UK (TI-UK). The majority of sectors covered in this research are performing very badly in terms of identifying and reporting money-laundering. Major problems have been identified in the quality, as well as the quantity, of reports coming out of the legal, accountancy and estate agency sectors. There are ineffective sanctions and low fines in relation to the amounts being laundered. Laws are failing to be effective deterrents. Of the seven HMRC-regulated sectors, the total fines in 2014/15 amounted to just £768,000. The research highlights that 1/3rd of banks dismissed serious money laundering allegations without adequate review, and there were only fifteen suspicious cases reported through art and auction houses.
Government urged to act on global persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians across the world continues to increase, according to the publication of the 2016 World Watch List. The CEO of Open Doors said that persecution levels have risen rapidly; every year over 100 million Christians are persecuted because of their beliefs. The most notable increases are in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Eritrea. Open Doors has urged the Government to do everything possible within their spheres of influence to affect this situation. David Cameron said standing up for religious freedom is a priority for his government. ‘We are committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief as one of the foundations of human rights. No matter what faith we follow, charity, compassion, responsibility and forgiveness are values which speak to us all.’
Faith leaders pay respects to David Bowie
Showman David Bowie was enigmatic about his religious views, yet his recent death from cancer brought tributes from the Church. Blogger Tom Kershaw noted, ‘Bowie is more disenchanted with religion than he is with God.’ Justin Welby said, ‘I’m very saddened to hear of his death; I remember listening to his songs and relishing the impact he had.’ The president of a leading evangelical school in New York City tweeted a photo of himself performing a Bowie song, and one of the first to note his passing was a senior Vatican official who tweeted lyrics from Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ that finished, ‘God’s love be with you.’ Bowie is reported to have said, ‘Questioning my spiritual life has been germane to what I was writing.’
