THE Government's failure to include in the Queen's Speech its
promise to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid has left the
chief executive of Tearfund "bitterly disappointed". On Wednesday,
Matthew Frost said: "Charity begins at home, but it doesn't stay
here." The legislative programme set out in the speech focused on
home affairs, although it referred to the Prime Minister's
presidency of the G8 and "work to prevent sexual violence in
conflict worldwide".
A PROTESTER at the Occupy camp outside St Paul's Cathedral has
been cleared of raping a woman on the site. On Thursday of last
week, a jury at the Old Bailey found Malcolm Blackman, aged 46, not
guilty on two counts of rape. The claimant told the court that she
had been attacked by Mr Blackman in January 2012, in a tent in the
camp.
THE Government's same-sex marriage Bill was blamed by
Conservative activists for the party's performance in last week's
local elections, in which 335 council seats were lost. On Tuesday,
Robert Woollard, the chairman of Conservative Grassroots, a
recently formed network of party members, said that efforts by
election activists had been "deeply undermined by David Cameron's
personal commitment to redefine marriage". A ComRes online poll of
1502 people in April found that, of those who voted for the
Conservatives in 2010, a quarter said that the Bill made them "less
likely" to vote for the party in the local elections.
THE sixth anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
(News,
25 May 2007), was marked by the Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu,
on Friday. Dr Sentamu said prayers for Madeleine and her family at
Bishopthorpe Palace, where prayers are said for her every day: "We
should not give up hope; nor should we stop supporting those that
are hurting."
MINISTERS in the Church of Scotland should undergo a regular
"structured review", a process currently regarded by many as
"potentially unsettling, or a threat best avoided", suggests a
report due to be presented at the Church's General Assembly next
week. The Special Commission Anent Ministerial Tenure and the
Leadership of the Local Church emphasises that the review would not
be a examination aimed at "weeding out the problem cases", but a
"process of guided reflection".
A NIGHTCLUB-owner, Ben Read, who has rebranded a club in
Carlisle "The Church", replete with a crucifix above the entrance
and an image of a DJ in a pose reminiscent of Christ on the cross,
is unrepentant. Mr Read told The Cumberland News: "The
cross has gone past being a piece of religious iconography. It's
fashionable and it's a trendy thing to wear." A Roman Catholic
priest from a parish near by, Fr Michael Docherty, said that the
use of the cross "corrupts" its meaning: "Something that should be
a symbol of good and virtue is corrupted for material gain."
A PROGRAMME for people suffering from problems with food has
been launched by Burrswood Hospital in Kent, a Christian facility.
The "Insights into Eating" programme is a two-week residential
package, designed for those who "want to start to address their
'emotional' eating habits".
