Brownfield sites for wind farms
A recent study by scientists at the University of Sussex and Denmark’s Aarhus University found that if wind farms were established on the available and appropriate land, they could meet 140% of the UK and Ireland’s energy demand. Although not all this land would be used, in the interest of preserving biodiversity, they said the research showed how much potential onshore wind has to solve the energy crisis. Also, they need not blight the most beautiful parts of England because there is plenty of room for them next to rail lines and on brownfield land. In the recent energy strategy the Government decided to keep the curbs on onshore wind introduced by David Cameron; the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the turbines were an ‘eyesore’. Boris Johnson emphasised his support for offshore wind but did not noticeably back onshore wind farms.
Priti Patel argues with the church
Justin Welby spoke against proposed plans for illegal migrants to be transported to Rwanda before being able to apply to live in the UK. He said, ‘The principle must stand the judgement of God. It cannot carry the weight of our national responsibility as a country formed by Christian values. Sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God, who himself took responsibility for our failures.’ Also Dr Rowan Williams said, ‘Is the policy sinful? In a word, yes.’ The Archbishop of York said, ‘We can do better than this.’ Priti Patel has fought back against the criticisms via an article in The Times. It reads, ‘We are taking bold and innovative steps and it's surprising that those institutions that criticise the plans fail to offer their own solutions.'
CARE on online safety bill
Last week we prayed for better laws and legislation to safeguard children from online sexual exploitation. This week the Christian charity CARE said that the legislation - as it stands - falls short of safeguarding children. They said many amendments must be made to the bill, such as the issue of age verification measures. Tim Cairns said, ‘Last year, they drafted a bill that didn't cover all pornography websites. They amended the bill and the second reading was on 19 April.’ CARE said that there are still issues to be ironed out. For example, websites with self-selecting tick boxes do not meet the requirements for age assurance, or age verification. CARE said, ‘There is a moral duty to do this, given its broken promise to usher in age checks in 2017. Ministers can’t afford to let children down a second time.’
Nadhim Zahawi rejects smacking children ban
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said he does not believe the state should be ‘nannying’ parents about the way they bring up their children. He has rejected the call to ban smacking children in England, saying, ‘Parents are entitled to discipline their children. My very strong view is we must trust parents on this. They should be entitled to discipline their children. There is a very big difference between a “light smack on the arm” and child abuse.’ Dame Rachel De Souza, the children's commissioner, has signalled her support for changing the law to give children the same protection from assault as adults. Wales has made illegal any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping or shaking illegal. In England and Northern Ireland, smacking a child is unlawful, but is allowed as long as it constitutes ‘reasonable punishment’.
