BRIEFING
UK government ignoring abuses of workers’ rights in trade talks
THE TUC HAS CONDEMNED the UK government’s “total disregard” for workers around the world and says it is “giving countries a free pass” on “abhorrent” labour rights abuses in a rush to agree trade deals. The criticism comes as the TUC publishes its analysis of the...
RSPB calls for pesticide reduction targets and non-chemical alternatives
THE RSPB HAS PUBLISHED a comprehensive review of studies looking at the harmful effect of pesticides on wildlife, and sets out why the current risk assessments are not protecting wildlife from these chemicals. The report comes 60 years after Rachel Carson published...
England’s leaky homes cost poorer families £250 a year in wasted energy
THREE MILLION 'FUEL POOR' HOUSEHOLDS IN ENGLAND – already struggling with the rising cost of living – are having to pay an extra £250 a year on average on fuel bills because of poorly insulated homes, new analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) finds. The...
Military spending increase condemned amid cost of living crisis
BRITISH PACIFISTS HAVE CONDEMNED Boris Johnson's announcement of a sharp rise in military spending, describing it as an insult to everyone struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The Peace Pledge Union (PPU), Britain's leading pacifist network, is planning protests...
Child marriage on the rise in Horn of Africa as drought crisis intensifies
GIRLS AS YOUNG AS TWELVE are being forced into child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at “alarming rates” in the Horn of Africa, as the most severe drought in forty years pushes families to the edge, warns UNICEF. In the regions of Ethiopia worst affected...
COMMENTARY
Striking workers: hard left, Marxist, or Catholic?
WHEN THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY condemned the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a Conservative MP complained that it could make Conservative churchgoers, “feel alienated and unwelcome.” The Archbishop did not offer to dilute one of the key...
Free school meals are an investment in a country’s future
TEACHERS AND SCHOOL STAFF IN ENGLAND have asked for all children whose parents are on Universal Credit to get free school meals. In a letter to Nadhim Zahawi and Rishi Sunak they said: "We see the devastating reality of children coming to school unable to afford to...
Thoughts on a Platinum Jubilee
THE BEGINNING OF THE FOUR DAY PLATINUM JUBILEE seems a good time to unpack some of the absurdities, pitfalls and occasional outright cruelties associated with both royalist and republican points of view. In childhood, my father told me that you can learn quite a lot...
The Platinum Jubilee and the Peasants’ Revolt
AS WE APPROACH FOUR DAYS of national events to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee it seems worth pointing out that today (30 May) marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. At that time, the population had been devastated by a...
Resisting the false logic of destruction
AS AN ANABAPTIST/MENNONITE PACIFIST, I recognise that I cannot expect the nations of the world to operate according to my convictions. But that does not mean that those convictions have no relevance for world affairs. For instance, I think one can critique US nuclear...
MEDIA
UPDATES
‘What’s Next?’ Solas Festival is back
EKKLESIA is delighted to be co-sponsoring the imaginative and energetic Solas Festival for the fifth year in 2022... and it's all happening this weekend. Scotland's midsummer events jamboree is a feast of music, performance, discussion, culture, education and fun....
Eastertide reflections from Ekklesia
IN THE PAST we have maintained a tradition on Ekklesia of publishing reflections or articles to mark the darkness and hope of Easter. That has happened on many years, though not all. This time we kick off with a longer thought piece on the troubled texts of Holy Week...
Launch: Exchange of Gifts
WE ARE DELIGHTED that our latest book, Exchange of Gifts: The Vision of Simon Barrington-Ward, edited by Graham Kings and Ian Randall, has been launched officially today. The launch was at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Over 50 people were present in person, and...