BRIEFING
Call for a renewed vision of UK’s role in the world
IN a new publication from UCL Policy Lab and Hertford College, Oxford, leading figures from British diplomacy and international development, including the former Cabinet Secretary Lord Mark Sedwill, call for a renewed vision of UK foreign affairs. Following a series...
American money used to promote religious conservatism in UK
HUMANISTS UK has raised concerns over the growing influence of ‘dark money’ and other funding from American sources in UK politics, particularly influencing debates on abortion, LGBT rights, assisted dying, and faith schools. Following the overturning of Roe v Wade in...
Research reveals number of political donors in House of Lords
A new report from Transparency International UK calls for reforms to the appointment and conduct rules of the House of Lords, aimed at reducing corruption risks in the second chamber. Transparency International UK research found almost a quarter of all nominations...
Six months of war leave Al-Shifa hospital in ruins, WHO mission reports
A MULTI AGENCY MISSION led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) accessed Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on 5 April to conduct a preliminary assessment of the extent of destruction and identify needs to guide future efforts to restore the facility. The highly...
Report on the cost of barriers to paid work for women
AN analysis by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and The Women’s Budget Group (WBG) has found that the cost of the barriers to paid work encountered by women – such as caregiving responsibilities, gender bias in recruitment and attitudes towards aging –...
COMMENTARY
The two child limit: a cruel and unfair false economy
EVERY CHILD born in the UK, whatever their circumstances, is a member of our society. Society has a choice – we can do our best to support and nurture those children, to help them grow into healthy, happy adults, or we can turn our backs on them, allow them to...
Scotland, gender reform and law: difference and common ground
ISSUES around gender identity, wider equality, law and policy have been much in the news recently. A Scottish government attempt to overturn the UK government veto of a bill to make it easier to change legal gender failed. But Scotland’s leaders are pressing ahead...
Can we dare to hope when it comes to Israel-Palestine?
I DECIDED several weeks ago that it was time to write another article for Ekklesia, following a long absence from its web pages. Ekklesia published my second book in 2019, and may hopefully be able to produce an edited and updated second edition in the near future. So...
Remembering a good man and a blessing that will endure
WAR, violence, a climate crisis. Cruelty, deceit, self-interest, division and corruption. There is a great deal of darkness in our world. There is much to make us despairing and cynical. It is easy to lose a grip on hope, to cease to believe that there may be goodness...
Gaza and a ‘beyond alarming’ election result
WHY has the election of a single MP in a northern town got the political and media establishment so rattled – and why now? George Galloway has been elected as an MP several times in the past, and his election then did not elicit such a reaction. His character and...
MEDIA
UPDATES
Gaza news updates and truth-sourcing
IT HAS long been said that truth is the first casualty in war. In the age of digital technology, social media, AI and deepfakes, that awful reality has been turbo-charged. The continuing bombardment and assault on Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are prime...
Stations of the Cross for Gaza
WE ARE grateful to our friends at Christians for Palestine for producing a moving set of meditations and prayers for Gaza, using the traditional form of the Stations of the Cross, which depict Jesus's path to crucifixion. In commending these reflections we remember...
Confronting Christian Zionism and advocating for peace and justice
JOIN the Rev Dr Munther Isaac for a thought-provoking online conversation (6:30pm UK time, Sunday 4th February) on combatting Christians Zionism and empowering people of faith to advocate for Palestinian liberation. This will be an insightful discussion, shedding...