The 2010 general election, with its television debates and hung Parliament leading to a Lib-Con coalition engaged a public, normally bored with politics, like no other in living memory. Perhaps predictably, the economy and immigration were the issues that most captivated media attention. Several weeks of preparing the public...
Raising up workers During the heaviest snowfall of the winter I rose at 4am, abandoned my car in drifts on the side of the road near the station, got stranded in a darkened railway carriage during a power failure, and eventually arrived at Gatwick to find the airport closed and...
Assisted suicide is once again in the media spotlight thanks to the high profile prosecutions of Kay Gilderdale and Frances Inglis, continuing controversy around the activities of Philip Nitschke (Exit) and Ludwig Minelli (Dignitas), and celebrity endorsement by authors Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis. So much so that both MPs...
In January 2008 CMF welcomed a new bill which encouraged the donation at childbirth of umbilical cord blood and its storage for public use, (1) and called on the government to invest more actively in developing the NHS cord stem cell bank. MP David Burrowes' Umbilical Cord Blood (Donation) Bill (2)...
'We don't do God', said spin doctor Alistair Campbell. 'Keep religion out of politics' proclaimed Australian opposition leader Mark Latham. (1) A Google search on 'Keep God out' brings up 99,600,000 references with California, Canada, Haiti, Irish law, public affairs, government, our democracy, stem cell research and football all prominent....
Since the 7 July defeat in the House of Lords of the Falconer amendment, (1) and after a final failed attempt to amend it by Lord Alderdice, the Coroners and Justice Bill has thankfully passed through both Houses of Parliament unchanged. It can now no longer be used as a...
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed...
As Christian doctors living in uncertain times we face huge challenges. Growing hostility to Christian faith and values means that Christian organisations and individuals, especially health professionals, are increasingly coming under attack. In addition we are confronted with huge and growing health needs both here and abroad, with much of...
On 7 July the House of Lords rejected by 194 to 141 a change in the law on assisted suicide. (1) Lord Falconer's amendment 173 to the Coroners and Justice Bill would have exempted from investigation and prosecution those who help terminally ill people to travel abroad to seek assisted...
In recent months and as part of a concerted campaign, assisted dying has constantly been in the media spotlight through the Debbie Purdy case (seeking immunity for her husband from prosecution should he accompany her to commit suicide abroad), Craig Ewart's SKY Real Lives documentary (covering his death at the...