Skip to content

Archive site notice

You are viewing an archived copy of Christian Concern's website. Some features are disabled and pages may not display properly.

To view our current site, please visit christianconcern.com

In the News

  • Solicitors Journal: The Counter-Extremism Bill is a plot to censor public by Maria Theodoulou
    June 13th, 2016

    The Counter-Extremism Bill, unveiled in the Queen's Speech, has come under attack from many different sections of society. The Bill seeks to tackle extremist ideology by banning all forms of 'extremist speech'; however, the government has so far failed to produce a workable definition of 'extremism', or at least enough of a definition to make it clear why a new law is, in fact, needed.

    Condemned by a coalition of opponents, the Bill is a clear bid by the government to curb Islamic fundamentalist thought. It has, though, been hidden behind the thin veil of ensuring the country's safety against all forms of extremism.

    Read more.

  • Herald Scotland (£): Improved services, not more surveillance, is the best way to keep children safe
    June 13th, 2016

    IAIN Macwhirter (“Scotland risks being turned into a surveillance state”, The Herald, June 9) is right. The Named Person Scheme, while undoubtedly well-intentioned, is unlikely to make Scotland’s children safer. On the one hand, it will increase fear and anxiety on the part of many caring parents, especially those struggling to make ends meet, that their parenting skills will be called into question.

    On the other, it will place a huge burden on the head teachers, health visitors and other Named Persons who are likely to be targets if they fail to spot and address possible neglect and abuse (never mind lack of well-being). In the context of the tragic death of Liam Fee and all those other children in Scotland who have died at the hands of their carers, the scheme is likely to increase the kind of “risk-averse” behavior on the part of professionals that the 2006 Changing Lives Report sought to discourage.

    Read more.

  • No2NP: Government says 'no requirement to consider effect [of named person scheme] on parent'
    June 13th, 2016

    Almost every time supporters of Named Persons talk about the scheme, they end up making things worse.

    Digging a hole

    Alan Small is a Government Named Person guru. He was the ‘Information Sharing and Technological Solutions Lead’ for the Scottish Government’s GIRFEC programme (Getting it Right for Every Child – the policy behind Named Persons) and is Chair of Fife Child Protection Committee.

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: How churchyards could be England's Noah's arks
    June 13th, 2016

    They have stood for centuries in every village and neighbourhood in England, virtually undisturbed and, more often than not, unnoticed.

    But the parish churchyards of England could soon be under the spotlight like never before from scientists and conservationists amid hopes they could prove to be a collective “Noah’s Ark” of vanishing species of plant and tree.

    Experts believe they could prove to have been the last redoubt of hundreds of unique local subspecies of plant and tree - and the wildlife which depend on them - but could now be used a launchpad to restore the country’s lost biodiversity and even yield future scientific breakthroughs.

    Read more.

  • Mail: Thousands of doctors help people die every year, says head of Britain's assisted dying organisation
    June 13th, 2016

    'Thousands' of doctors are helping terminally ill patients to die every year, a leading advocate of assisted dying has claimed.

    Baroness Molly Meacher, the new chairwoman of Dignity in Dying, also thanked the medical experts who 'risk their own freedom to help their patients.' 

    In her first interview since being appointed, the mother-of-four told The Sunday Times: 'We know that thousands of doctors do help patients who are terminally ill and who are [mentally] capacitous and who want to die. 

    Read more.

  • Gatestone Institute: Christian Human Rights Activist Jailed in Turkey
    June 13th, 2016

    The Assyrian Human rights activist Sawo Oshana Ide, accused of "being a member of an armed organization," has been jailed in Turkey since February 18. The indictment does not mention which "armed organization" Sawo belongs to. According to Ide's lawyer, Erkan Metin, "He is abstractly accused of doing research in accordance with the objectives of an organization and forming lists about ammunition."

    Read more.

  • Conservative Woman: Paying poor young women £500 for painful and risky egg donation raises ethical questions by Philippa Taylor
    June 12th, 2016

    Journalists and commentators covering the 'three-parent' embryos news consistently fail to consider, let alone ask the scientists about, several important ethical and safety questions.

    There are plenty of questions asked about whether the new research will be safe for the embryos created. I’ve covered that important aspect here.

    But no questions have been asked about the safety of the women who are key to creating these ‘three-parent’ embryos? Does their health and well being count for nothing?

    Read more.

  • Mail: Gay rugby star's ex-wife calls for same-sex affairs to be recognised by divorce laws
    June 12th, 2016

    The ex-wife of a gay rugby star is calling for same-sex affairs to be recognised by divorce laws after she was told she could not put down 'suspected adultery' as the reason she split with her husband.

    Sara Wilson was shocked when she was told by rugby league player Keegan Hirst that he knew he was gay throughout their marriage - and flirted with other men online.

    Despite his denials, the 31-year-old was convinced his betrayal had gone further and filed for divorce.

    Read more.

  • Mail: Domestic abuse victim who called police was told to try her local Sharia council instead
    June 12th, 2016

    A domestic abuse victim who called police was directed to her local Sharia council instead.

    Another woman who told West Yorkshire police that her ex had threatened to flee to Pakistan with their daughter was also advised to contact her Sharia council.
    Sharia law lays down a series of rules and guidelines for Muslims.

    In Britain there are around 85 Sharia courts which rule in family and inheritance disputes between Muslims who agree to be bound by the decisions.

    Read more.

  • Times (£): New school rules let boys wear skirts
    June 12th, 2016

    Eighty state schools, including 40 primaries, have introduced “gender neutral” uniform policies that allow boys to wear skirts and girls to wear trousers.

    The schools have either dropped references to girls and boys in their dress codes or have rewritten their uniform policy — in the case of at least one state primary school — to say that pupils as young as five can dress in the uniform in which they feel most comfortable.

    Read more.