BRIEFING
Violence and self-harm continue to rise in youth custody
TWO new reports paint a bleak picture of youth custody in England and Wales. While the number of children in custody continued to fall in 2022-23, levels of violence and self-harm rose by just over a quarter and a third respectively. Children in custody 2022-23...
NGOs react to the International Development white paper
THE UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office published a White Paper on 20 November, saying it represented a "re-energised approach to international development". Responding to the report, Oxfam’s Head of Policy and Advocacy, Katy Chakraborrty, said: “The...
Government’s approval of bee-threatening pesticide may break law
LAWYERS for ClientEarth have warned the UK’s environmental watchdog that the government may have breached environmental law by approving a pesticide which poses risks to honey bees, other pollinators and freshwater aquatic life. In a complaint to the Office for...
More children in care being moved away from their local area
NEW data released by the Department for Education (DfE) shows a continued and significant rise in the numbers of children in care moved more than 20 miles from their local area and sent to live somewhere they do not know, often alone and without warning. Despite...
£29m a week cost of ‘huge tax break’ for banks
THE government’s decision to cut the banking surcharge is costing the public purse £29 million a week, according to a new report published by the TUC. The report estimates that the Treasury will lose “at least” £1.5 billion annually over the next four years as result...
COMMENTARY
Thoughts on Armed Forces Day
YESTERDAY was Armed Forces Day. A difficult day for those of us committed to active non-violence, pacifism and objection to what is defined as ‘militarism’. I do not dissent from this last term, but I acknowledge its ambiguity. At present, this concept is part of my...
Gender law conflict: seeking a way forward
THERE HAS been heated debate in recent months over equalities, including how protection of transgender people is balanced with the rights of women and girls in general. This has often been harsh and divisive and has got in the way of measures which might reduce...
Partying, speeding and dangerous misuse of power
RECENT NEWS HEADLINES offer an alarming glimpse of how the UK is run. This includes government ministers repeatedly bending and possibly breaking rules, overriding checks and balances and pushing through policies which inflict huge harm, especially on the most...
Remembering lockdown
“GANAWA BACK! GA FARDER OOT!” If you walk the Lakeland fells, you may hear these cries from a shepherd directing a dog as it gathers a swirling mass of Herdwicks and guides them towards a gate or sheepfold. Those words have become a lockdown measuring rod for me. The...
Captains, Kings and soft power: a Quaker view
THE TUMULT and the shouting has died. And though the captains and the kings may not have departed, they have, for the present, disappeared from our screens. The power-pageant of throne and altar has rightly been much anatomised and discussed, both in these pages and...
MEDIA
UPDATES
(Not just for) England and Saint George
TODAY is St George's Day, and a number of Ekklesia's supporters and readers have referenced the report we first produced in 2007 (re-issued in 2009 and 2010), calling for the 'rebranding' of St George away from a narrow and often reactionary or racist English...
Resurrecting hope: setting the present-future free
TO ALL FRIENDS of Ekklesia, we wish you a very happy Easter, wherever you are and whatever shapes your life and commitment towards justice, peace and sustainability for all on this beautiful, fragile, wounded planet. As Christians across the globe proclaim "Χριστός...
Forum: Truth, forgiveness, healing and reconciliation
THE Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace (EICSP) is hosting an online forum on ‘Truth, forgiveness, healing and reconciliation’ at 7pm on Wednesday 29 March, chaired by Ekklesia's Director, Simon Barrow. The aim is to bring spiritual, social and...