Christian concerned over freedom of speech
Hatun Tash, a Christian street evangelist who regularly preaches at Hyde Park's Speakers’ Corner, has raised concerns about freedom of speech in the UK after Edward Little, 21, pleaded guilty on 19 May to attempting to kill her. In September, police arrested him when they found him in possession of thousands of pounds in cash, intending to purchase a gun to murder Tash and her camera crew. He was apprehended before he could carry out his plan. In response to his admission of guilt, Tash said, ‘l am glad that the police were able to act and stop Mr Little before he harmed me and people around me. This should concern everyone in the UK. It shows that the teaching of Islam is not compatible with British values if it inspires men to attempt to murder Christian evangelists.’
Helped British in Helmand - now rejected by UK
An Afghan colonel who fought alongside British troops in Helmand province joint operations has been threatened with deportation to Rwanda. He was not helped in any way after Kabul fell to the Taliban, and recovering from a combat wound he fled to find safety. After journeying across 11 countries he reached the UK on a small boat last September. He has now received a notice of intent from the Home Office threatening him with deportation. While he was still in Afghanistan he applied to the Ministry of Defence’s resettlement scheme, known as Arap (the Afghan relocations and assistance policy). He received one follow-up call from a British official but heard nothing since. He is one of many Afghan veterans who had to use illegal routes to get to the UK due to restrictions and delays plaguing the government’s dedicated Afghan resettlement schemes.
Cardiff: unrest after fatal crash
Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in a bike crash in Cardiff. Shortly afterwards rumours spread across social media that they were being chased by the police when they crashed. The rumour spread like wildfire and sparked a riot. 150 masked vandals set vehicles alight and aimed missiles and fireworks at police, injuring 15. 12 were hospitalised. The clean-up operation will cost about £22,500. The vicar at the local church said, ‘I can't even begin to imagine the amount of pain and grief the family of Kyrees and Harvey will be feeling. It is absolutely vital that communication between the police and community is handled properly. This community is very difficult to police. We have some people who are very antagonistic towards police; a police presence anywhere will wind them up.’ May God’s peace fill the atmosphere in this community and for police enquiries to run smoothly. See
Workers justified in asking for wage rise
‘We have a low-wage, high-welfare economy, which means people depend continuously on tax credits and all sorts of other welfare help in order to get by. That is not a sustainable situation for millions of households up and down the country’, says Christian economist Professor Adrian Pabst. As the cost of living crisis continues, the prospect of corporations engaging in increasing the cost of items at the shopping till to keep their profits high is facing investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) amid ‘ongoing concerns about high prices’. The CMA is looking at whether increases are linked to ‘any failure in competition’. Recently, Tesco’s chairman said it was ‘entirely possible’ that food producers are hiking prices more than necessary. Professor Pabst asks, ‘Do workers deserve a pay rise to match inflation? Christians should be on the side of the dignity of labour, not siding with private profit.’
