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In the News

  • TES: Move to reveal Trojan Horse whistleblowers 'beggars belief', warns head
    January 4th, 2017

    The NAHT heads' union has condemned a move by government solicitors to notify dozens of people who gave evidence on the "Trojan Horse" affair that their identities will be disclosed to lawyers acting for five ex-head teachers facing a disciplinary hearing.

    Birmingham City Council has also opposed the move, saying it was "extremely alarmed" by the decision. It has called on the government to intervene to halt the disclosure.

    The Trojan Horse scandal emerged in late 2013, when Birmingham City Council received a letter referring to "Operation Trojan Horse": an alleged plot by some Muslim groups to take over schools in the city and run them on strict Islamic principles.

    Read more.

  • The Times: Online divorce to spare couples time and trouble
    January 3rd, 2017

    Couples will be able to divorce online this year under plans that could open the way for the abolition of fault-based grounds for ending marriage.

    Ministers are preparing a pilot project to allow divorce proceedings to be issued digitally for the first time, in a move to save time, paperwork and stress for thousands of people. More than 110,000 divorce proceedings were begun in 2015.

    The plan, backed by England’s most senior family judge, Sir James Munby, will be tested before being introduced across England and Wales in June.

    Read more.

  • Christian Institute: Bible-believing Christians could be hit by Extremism Bill
    January 3rd, 2017

    People who practise their faith in a traditional, conservative way could face police investigations under a Government Extremism Bill, the terrorism watchdog has warned.

    David Anderson QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, cautioned that people who are 'miles away from terrorism' could be caught up by a ‘broad-brush’ law on extremism.

    The Government promised a consultation on its extremism plans in the Queen’s Speech last year.

    Read more.

  • Mail: More than half of parents who split up are unmarried despite the number of cohabiting couples being four times less
    January 3rd, 2017

    More than half of break-ups among couples with children involve unmarried men and women, a study showed yesterday.

    While there are nearly four times as many families with children headed by married couples, the number of break-ups among cohabitee parents is now higher, according to the Marriage Foundation think-tank.

    It said 51.4 per cent of couples with children who parted last year were cohabitees and 48.1 per cent were married.

    Read more.

  • BBC: Darul Hadis Latifiah school downgraded as CCTV found in toilet
    January 3rd, 2017

    An independent Islamic boys' school where inspectors found a CCTV camera in toilets has been rated "inadequate".

    Ofsted downgraded Darul Hadis Latifiah in Bethnal Green, saying pupils were not being "prepared for life in modern Britain".

    Inspectors found "grimy" facilities and "inappropriate" literature.

    Read more.

  • National Secular Society: Islamic school found to be hindering pupils' personal development
    January 3rd, 2017

    Ofsted inspectors have downgraded an independent Islamic school in Tower Hamlets after finding "grimy" facilities, "inappropriate" books and a camera placed in the school toilets.

    Inspectors concluded that pupils were not being "prepared for life in modern Britain" after discovering "Inappropriate literature regarding women's role in society".

    Pupils at the Darul Hadis Latifiah had "no planned opportunities" to "socialise or work with girls" and very few pupils were able to name "the new British Prime Minister or were aware of the first female presidential candidate in the elections taking place in the United States of America."

    Read more.

  • Times (£): Women prepare for a power grab in church, police and BBC
    January 3rd, 2017

    Theresa May is poised to oversee the introduction of women into three key positions of power this year, with female candidates among the frontrunners for top jobs in the police, the church and the BBC.

    Recruitment is under way for a new Met police commissioner, a head of the new BBC unity board and a Bishop of London.

    The prime minister has a largely symbolic role in the three appointments but has a history of encouraging women in public life and will take a keen interest in the decisions, particularly because the home secretary, Amber Rudd, selects the new head of Scotland Yard.

    Read more.

  • Guardian: Book explaining gender diversity to primary school children sparks furore
    January 2nd, 2017

    "My name is Kit and I’m 12 years old. I live in a house with my mum and dad, and our dog, Pickle. When I was born, the doctors told my mum and dad that they had a baby girl, and so for the first few years of my life that’s how my parents raised me. This is called being assigned female at birth. I wasn’t ever very happy that way."

    These are the opening lines of a controversial new book called Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity? which is being introduced into some primary schools as a resource for children, parents and teachers, and claims to be the first book to explain "medical transitioning" to children as young as seven.

    Read more. 

  • Creation Ministries International: From Atheism to Christ
    January 1st, 2017

    Dr Yingguang Liu is an associate professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. Born in China, he graduated from medical school there and then earned a Master’s degree in microbiology. After practising medicine as an infectious disease specialist for several years, he came to the United States for further education and obtained a Ph.D. in molecular virology. For the last 13 years, he has taught at Christian colleges, first at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin, and now Liberty University.

    Read more. 

  • Reuters: Islamic State kills 24 with Baghdad car bomb, attack police stations in Samarra
    January 1st, 2017

    An Islamic State car bomb killed 24 people in Baghdad's Sadr City district on Monday and the militants also attacked two police stations in the city of Samarra as Iraqi forces fought to oust the group from Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.

    At least four other attacks across Baghdad, some also claimed by Islamic State, killed nine more people earlier in the day, bringing the total death toll from bombings in the capital over the past three days to more than 60.

    In the attacks in Samarra, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, security sources said multiple gunmen wearing suicide vests took over two police stations, killing at least seven policemen.

    Read more.