Displaying items by tag: British Isles

The Christian Medical Fellowship has prepared a seven-day prayer guide for Christian healthcare workers. The first three days in this resource are: 1) Pray that they step out each day in faith and not fear. Pray that they would call to mind God’s sovereignty, steadfast love, and faithfulness and keep looking to Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of their faith 2) Pray for them to be the fragrance of Christ in healthcare at this time of crisis, to shine like stars in the sky as they hold firmly to the word of life. Pray for boldness to make the most of the many opportunities to share the hope and love of Christ with patients and colleagues. 3) Pray for the joy of the Lord to be their strength, especially when surrounded by sickness, death, anxiety, pain and despair. For the full seven days of this resource, click the ‘More’ button.

By 9am on 20 January large parts of England and Wales experienced severe rain disruption on roads and railways. 2,000 properties in Greater Manchester were evacuated overnight. More residents were evacuated in Wales and Merseyside as heavy rain and snow fell. High rivers called for warnings of danger to life at Didsbury, Northenden, and Maghull. Despite the best efforts of all agencies, more evacuations have been necessary, and people advised to evacuate must do so urgently. Pray for all needing rescuing to be reached, and for those ravaged by 2019 floods who are now watching water rise again. Covid-safe emergency centres are in leisure centres. There are 130 flood warnings and 225 flood alerts, and most of England, Wales and NI have yellow weather warnings. The Met Office said Christoph is not a traditional storm; most disruption is by rain, and ‘we are going to see further rain over the next 24 to 36 hours’.

The over 70s and ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ are now being called to vaccination appointments because of good progress being made. The vaccine program should lead to 'marked reductions' in deaths from early March. Excellent data from Israel records vaccinating 20% of the over-60s and two weeks later seeing a marked reduction in serious illness and deaths in that group. It is hoped that after mid-February we will see a marked reduction in death and serious illness. Because those most at risk of death are being prioritised for vaccination, hospital and death numbers could fall faster than case numbers. The vaccine deployment minister said that there are a lot of unknowns, and because of them he does not want to over-promise and under-deliver.

‘Jewish people today on campus can be tolerated, protected or abused. At no point are they treated as equals.’ (David Collier, Academia, 18 January) This Jew-hate, cloaked in anti-Zionism, is a doctrine claiming that the Jewish state, alone among the nations, has no right to exist. The Government has tried to persuade universities to adopt the threat of removal of funding streams, but this is often bitterly opposed by certain academic staff desperate to remain unchallenged in their bully pulpits. As of autumn 2020 only 29 of 133 higher education institutions had complied. Some British universities are now virtually free of Jews. This is a chilling indictment not just of British academia but of a liberal democratic society that has tolerated a wave of discrimination against Jews sweeping through universities over recent decades. In 1938 the leading Nazi student newspaper triumphantly proclaimed, ‘The goal is achieved! No more Jews at German universities.’

A number of elections will take place on 6 May, including those postponed in 2020. These will be for local councils, mayors, police and crime commissioners, and members of the London Assembly and the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. We can pray for the Lord of Heaven and earth to be in every preparation leading up to these elections. We are in a season of financial shaking and pandemic challenges. Pray for God to release an atmosphere of health, safety, security and wellbeing to the various cultural and ethnic groups in our society. God’s word states, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation’, so we can pray for Him to release His righteousness into every aspect of national and local government. May His purposes be fulfilled in and through every business and government department’s decision. Pray for honour and integrity to increase in all political agendas.

The international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has admitted Brexit led to food shortages in Northern Ireland after weeks of disruption. Her cabinet colleague Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, had argued that the coronavirus crisis was solely to blame for the shortages, but Ms Truss contradicted him, blaming both issues. Meanwhile, a row broke out between the UK and EU after the Foreign Office refused to grant the bloc’s ambassador in London the same diplomatic status afforded to representatives of individual nation states. Also, anger is building among manufacturers as EU customers cancel orders due to Brexit red tape.

On 18 January more than twenty shellfish trucks parked just metres from Boris Johnson’s Downing Street office and the British parliament to protest against the post-Brexit bureaucracy that has stopped them exporting to the EU. Many Scottish fishermen have not been able to export their stocks to Europe since the start of the year after the introduction of catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations added lengthy delays to their delivery times, prompting European buyers to reject them. A director of Venture Seafoods, which exports live and processed crabs and lobsters to the EU. said he had cancelled several lorries due to the onerous red tape involved. One operator needed 400 pages of export documentation last week to board a ferry to the EU. He warned the system could collapse.

Hope is on the horizon. Health secretary Matt Hancock predicted that every adult would be offered a Covid vaccine by the autumn, as regular rapid testing for people without coronavirus symptoms started this week. Some high street pharmacies started vaccinating people from priority groups on 14 January, with 200 providing jabs in the following two weeks. The chemists will offer appointments to those invited by letter. Anyone who does not want to travel to these sites can still be vaccinated by their local GP or hospital service, but they may have to wait longer. Over 2.6 million people have now received their first dose.

Parents will be able to claim food vouchers from 18 January, after an outcry over paltry free school meal parcels. Education secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs he was 'absolutely disgusted' by images shared by angry parents of the meagre contents of food packages which lacked the components of a rounded diet and fell short of the £15-per-child value. Boris Johnson branded the boxes 'disgraceful' and 'an insult to the families receiving them'. Catering firm Chartwells will also start including breakfast in free school meal deliveries in response to the fierce criticism of its meagre parcels.

Fraudsters are sending out fake texts offering a Covid vaccine, trying to steal personal and financial information. Other scams include selling fake Covid cures and non-existent or low- quality PPE, as well as posing online as official sources to steal personal and banking details from victims. One scam message reading 'We have identified that you are eligible for your vaccine' prompts people to click on a link to 'apply’ for it. Pray for more police warnings about providing financial details to strangers. Criminals preying on people's fears over the pandemic are stealing millions of pounds, according to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. There have been fraud attempts posted on local Facebook pages and an ‘extremely convincing’ fake NHS website. Action Fraud warns people to never give out personal details to organisations or people before verifying their credentials first, even if the message appears to be genuine. See