CCJ condemns “anti-Semitic trope”
THE Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn (pictured), has been criticised after footage emerged last week from 2013 in which he had said that British Zionists had “no sense of English irony” despite having “lived in Britain all of their lives”. The Council of Christians and Jews said in a statement: “This kind of old anti-Semitic trope that Jewish people hoped they would never hear again seeks to imply that Jewish people in Britain are somehow outsiders who don’t really belong. Unfortunate remarks of this kind can only make Jewish people feel very unwelcome in their home.”
PM announces plans to curb modern slavery
THE Prime Minister has announced plans to cut illegal and unsafe migration into Europe from West Africa and support victims of modern slavery. The UK is to support up to 1700 migrants and modern-slavery victims returning to Nigeria from Libya with counselling and training in business and vocational skills; work with France to strengthen border co-operation with the governments of Nigeria and Niger; and establish a headquarters for a UK-funded border task force at Lagos airport. “Modern Slavery is one of the greatest human-rights abuses of our time, and the UK is a world leader in making it an international mission to end this heinous crime,” Mrs May said during her visit to Nigeria on Wednesday. “We are stepping up our partnership with Nigerian authorities to find traffickers and bring them to justice.”
Music redundancies at St Asaph confirmed
REDUNDANCIES have been made in the music department at St Asaph Cathedral in Wales after “financial pressure” led to budget cuts, the Dean, the Very Revd Nigel Williams, has confirmed. The Chapter announced this month that it had had to review its financial position and implement a cost-cutting strategy, which would include redundancies. Dean Williams said in a statement on Tuesday that the Director of Music, Alan McGuinness, and an assistant director of music, John Hosking, had been made redundant with “deep regret” after a review. “Modest temporary arrangements are being put in place to ensure those same high standards of music and worship will continue for principal cathedral and diocesan services. Arrangements are being made to properly look after the girls, boys, and adult singers of the cathedral choir.”
Correction: the Revd Andrew Mitcham was sentenced for offences committed while Vicar of Walsingham, not in a previous parish, as was stated last week (News, 24 August).