Archbishop: This is not a Game of Thrones – people are afraid and desperate
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said he is deeply concerned at what he is seeing in society. He told the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 that people feel real fear and desperation, worried at how they are going to make it through the winter. Keeping the triple lock on pensions was a good decision, but he wanted to ensure that benefits also rise in line with inflation .He said one way forward for the government was to serve the most vulnerable. The decision to reverse most of the mini budget proposals while allowing bankers bonuses not to be capped, set the wrong tone. He favoured a greener economy, investment in renewable energy and said more could be done with taxes. “I don’t pretend to be an economist and I’m not a politician. I am a pastor and I think my role here is to speak for the communities who are suffering the most, because the danger is that we see this all as a bit of a game in Westminster, a kind of Game of Thrones game, and forget the people in the communities where this hits hard”. BBC Sounds PM programme is here, 24 minutes in >>
Negligent, total chaos, families in desperate need – CofE official responds to UK crisis
Ben Ryan, the Home Affairs Adviser for the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Division, has addressed the political, economic and societal crisis in the UK. Writing in the Yorkshire Post , he says: “It is not simply unhelpful, but bordering on negligent, to be on our fourth Chancellor since July … At a time when people need serious help from a stable and responsible government, it is hard to escape the impression that everything is in total chaos…. It is worth keeping at the front of our minds that the drama has real and immediate consequences for household finances…. Last year it was up to around four in five churches supporting a foodbank. That includes the full range of churches from inner city to rural and from areas of high deprivation to wealthy areas…. The Church, along with many other civil society groups, does not need to be told the statistics to recognise the reality – we’ve seen it in the demand for services, in the families in our communities who have become desperate, and in the struggle to meet those needs”. The full article is here >>
Other news:
Church Action on Poverty marks its 40th anniversary this weekend with a pilgrimage and conference in Sheffield.
Church Action for Tax Justice has called on the new Chancellor to tax the wealthiest people to reduce inequality.
The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse publishes its final report today and is expected to make it mandatory to report child sex abuse, threatening the secrecy of the confessional.
Jewish News reports that the government is expected to drop the Schools Bill, which would have included greater powers to tackle unregistered strictly orthodox Charedi schools.
Brazil’s former President Lula da Silva is courting the evangelical vote in the presidential election on 30 October, promising to respect religious freedoms.
A feature in The Telegraph explains how it came to be that East Grinstead is home to an eclectic variety of religious groups.
