Universal Credit rollout delayed
The next stage of Universal Credit rollout will be scaled back, amid concerns it has made an estimated 3.2 million households worse off. It has also run over budget, is years behind schedule, and is said to have forced claimants into destitution and in some cases even prostitution. Others say they have been left to rely on foodbanks. The Trussell Trust, which runs national foodbanks, said it welcomed the news but added, ‘It will come too late for the thousands making new UC claims over the coming year. As an urgent priority, the 5+ week wait for a first payment must end’. When she started as work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, said she would listen ‘very carefully’ to concerns. She admitted the system could be better, and promised to ‘learn from errors’ and adjust the system where needed. See also
Christian is deported despite Islamic threats
On 9 January Asher Samson, from Birmingham, was deported to Pakistan, despite last-minute attempts to convince the authorities that his case warranted a judicial review because the proper procedures had not been followed. Mr Samson came to the UK in 2004 to continue theology training in order to become a pastor. He decided to apply for asylum here after being beaten and threatened with execution by Islamic extremists during visits to Pakistan. A friend from his church writes, ‘He has no close family there, and rightly fears for his life. We can only pray; though on one level that seems so little, we know it is the most effective thing to do.’
Farming and the land
The NFU has a new strapline for 2019: ‘UK – a nation united by food’, underpinned by four pillars: Moral Imperative, Standards and Integrity, Health and Nutrition, and Respecting Nature. Excellent aspirations, but without acknowledging the Lord they are just nice ideas. Pray that God will cause our farmers and those in related industries to run to Jesus and trust Him for clarity and purpose. Pray for reconciliation, firstly between God and man, then amongst people, and finally in restoration for God’s creation (Isaiah 55:6). Bovine tuberculosis continues to devastate many herds of cattle across Britain. Controlling the epidemic is hugely controversial: the role badgers play in spreading the disease, and the effectiveness of badger culling, are hotly contested. Pray for understanding between different interest groups, and that new solutions currently being developed will be implemented effectively and help reconcile farming and food production, animal welfare and care for creation.
Archbishop of Canterbury on Brexit vote
Justin Welby has told the Lords that if Parliament fails to back a deal with Brussels, it will have shown itself to be ‘unfit for the job’. He warned that a no-deal Brexit could hit the ‘poorest and most vulnerable’ communities the hardest, and MPs have a ‘duty to build a compromise, even if it is unwelcome to some’. He urged MPs to show leadership and put the interests of their constituents first: ‘Parliamentarians must be able to look back at this time and say honestly to the people of this country that we put them, their choices, their welfare and their communities above the politics and ideology that can seem so all-consuming here in Westminster.’
