Late attempt to avert tube strike
The strike weapon is being deployed yet again with its knock on effect to millions of the travelling public. The sick, elderly and infirm will be as badly hit as the hale and hearty. Last-ditch talks aimed at averting yet another strike by London Underground workers are under way. Leaders of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and the Rail Maritime and Transport union are meeting, as we go to print, London Underground at the conciliation service Acas. Thousands of workers are due to walk out for 24 hours at 7pm on Sunday 3rd October in a row over 800 job cuts, which will cause travel chaos across the capital following another strike earlier in September. TSSA’s leader said: ‘We hope that the mayor, Boris Johnson, is now genuine in his wish to secure a settlement ahead of the walkout from Sunday.’ Two further strikes are planned for November if the dispute remains unresolved. Pray: for a fair resolution to all industrial disputes so that the innocent are not harmed. (Dt. 25:1) More: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/late-attempt-to-avert-tube-strike-2093788.html
Bishop hits out at selfish leadership
The Bishop of Lichfield has called on leaders in the Church and secular society to put serving others before their own comfort. The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill criticised the MPs’ expenses scandal and banking practices, comparing some of today’s leaders to the tyrant kings spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel. ‘Those who should have been looking after the people, the flock, were apparently fiddling their expenses, awarding themselves huge bonuses, while at the same time cutting the pensions of ordinary folk. In other words they were in leadership for what they could get out of it,’ the bishop said. ‘A nation loses its social coherence if a few very comfortable leaders enrich themselves at the expense of the majority.’ Bishop Lichfield said a bishop’s task is not to ‘major on keeping the church going for another 10 years. He is here to help us serve our country and those who are scattered like sheep without a shepherd’. Pray: for all our leaders in whatever field, that they be guided wisely and selflessly. (2Ch.12:6) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishop.hits.out.at.selfish.leadership/26791.htm
Reform the ECGD, don't abolish it
Jubilee Debt Campaign, which works for the cancellation of unpayable and unjust poor country debts, says it wants the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) reformed not abolished. Responding to press reports that the ECGD is ‘under review’ as part of the Government’s ‘bonfire of quangos’, Nick Dearden, director of the UK coalition, commented: ‘We welcome the news that the ECGD is being considered for serious reform. For too long it has underwritten dodgy deals which have harmed human rights and the environment, and created toxic debts in the developing world. But scrapping or privatising the ECGD would leave unanswered questions about whether the state would continue as an underwriter of last resort for UK exports, and how the Government plans to fulfil its manifesto pledge to champion green exports. Privatisation could make the situation even worse if it means public money being spent with no public oversight’. Pray: that the Government will seriously consider reforming the ECGD. (Job.35:2-3)
Children suffer when parents abandon 'tough love'
Frank Field claims that young people do much better in life if their mothers and fathers set clear boundaries for their behaviour as well as bonding with them and reading to them. The former Labour minister, who is now the Coalition’s ‘poverty tsar’, believes that the end of old-fashioned parenting has held back the poorest children, preventing them from getting good jobs. He proposes that the Foundation Years stage of education, which currently runs from birth to five, should begin when the mother-to-be registers as pregnant with a doctor. In his article today, Mr Field writes that social mobility has stalled over the past 50 years despite rising incomes. He claims the ‘subtle and influential’ force affecting life chances for children is the changing style of parenting in Britain. ‘The sociologist Geoffrey Gorer asked why England had moved by the 1950s from being a pretty violent and uncivilised nation to one of respectability.’ Tough love. Pray: that Frank Field’s report is accepted by all parents to improve the life chances of their young. (Mk 10:19)
