Key Quotes for 2014

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




William Hague has dismissed a bid to prosecute British politicians and senior military figures over alleged war crimes in Iraq. The Foreign Secretary said there was no need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of UK forces abusing and killing detainees in their custody. There had been no “systematic” torture by troops, and individual cases had either already been dealt with or were the subject of probes, he said. The head of the army, General Sir Peter Wall, ex-defence secretary Geoff Hoon, and former defence minister Adam Ingram are among those named in a 250-page dossier sent to the ICC, according to the Independent on Sunday. Human rights lawyers have drawn on the cases of more than 400 Iraqis, arguing they represent “thousands of allegations”.
Disasters/War	The Sentinel, January 13, 2014



A campaign group has been formed to reduce the amount of sugar added to food and soft drinks in an effort to tackle obesity and diabetes in the UK. Action On Sugar has been set up by the team behind Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash), which has pushed for cuts to salt intake since the 1990s. The new group aims to help people avoid ‘hidden sugars’ and get manufacturers to reduce the ingredient over time. It believes a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in three to five years is within reach.
Health	The Sentinel, January 10, 2014



UKIP leader Nigel Farage has called for immigrants to be barred from receiving any benefits until they have been resident in the UK for five years. He also suggested they should not be eligible for tax credits. It comes as a survey suggests 77 per cent of Britons want to see immigration cut. The coalition brought in a three month ban on EU citizens getting out-of-work benefits ahead of work restrictions being lifted for Bulgarians and Romanians on January 1.
Politics	The Sentinel, January 8, 2014



It will take a decade for British pupils’ performance in major international education rankings to improve, claims Education Secretary Michael Gove. Mr Gove said it will be 10 years before UK pupils’ standings in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings significantly improve. The UK’s performance has stagnated since the 90s and the latest results last month showed teenagers lagged behind their peers in East Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan.
Education	The Sentinel, January 7, 2014



Water companies are second only to energy firms in ripping off the public, a Labour MP told the Commons. John McDonnell said a full investigation into the impact of privatisation since 1989 should be carried out before Government reforms to open up the water industry more widely can proceed.
Money	The Sentinel, January 7, 2014



David Cameron has said ‘Life should mean life’ as the government considers the US-style 100-year prison sentences for murderers and serious offenders as an alternative to ‘whole-life’ sentences. The government is looking at the plan after a European court ruled in 2013 that such sentences breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
Crime	The Sentinel, January 3, 2014



The professional mental health bodies in the UK permit therapists to assist clients towards achievement of desired life goals whose attendant risks range from relatively minor (a person nervous at having to make a speech) to potentially serious (a person seeking sex-change surgery) – with one exception: attempts to reduce same-sex attraction, even with the purpose of saving one’s marriage, are forbidden. Therapists may assist a man or woman to accept homosexual feelings but not to reduce or eliminate them.
Social Issues	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



A new coalition was launched in Brussels in mid-November to combat the growing threat of euthanasia across Europe. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Europe (EPC-Europe) brings together organisations and individuals from across the continent to campaign against the erosion of laws that protect people from euthanasia. It plans to act as a powerful voice against attempts to change laws across Europe that protect people from euthanasia and assisted suicide.
World Issues	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



The sultan of Brunei announced on October 22 that the country will be ruled according to sharia law, which will be introduced in phases from April 2014. Penalties for hudud crimes will be in line with the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah (the deeds and sayings of Muhammed). Hudud crimes include theft, for which sharia requires the amputation of limbs, adultery, which is punished by stoning, and apostasy, which carries the death penalty. Muslims who insult, mock or deny Islamic teachings may face imprisonment for up to 30 years and 40 strokes of the cane.
World Issues	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



Belgium is closer to introducing child euthanasia, after a Senate committee voted 13-4 in favour of the proposals in late November. The Bill, which extends euthanasia to children of any age suffering terminal illnesses and adults with dementia, must now clear further hurdles in the legislative process before it becomes law. If passed, Belgium would become the first country in the world to remove the age limit, as the Netherlands already allow euthanasia but restrict it to 12-year-olds and older.
World Issues	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



It was reported in mid-November that schools in Scotland are holding lunchtime sex clinics for pupils as young as 13. Pro-family campaigners say the service makes the issue of underage sex worse rather than better. 12 schools in Lothian, Dumfries and Galloway are offering students tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea during lunchtime and after-school clinics. Figures showed that Lanarkshire saw a 40% increase of syphilis cases in a year, with 15 to 17-year-olds a particular concern.
Young People	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



Campaigners are trying to launch a legal challenge to the Christian coronation of future monarchs, it was reported in November. The National Secular Society (NSS) has instructed lawyers to investigate challenging the ancient religious rite under human rights legislation. The Director of Communications at the Church of England, said: ‘To politicise the coronation in this way is a misguided and misjudged act by a campaign group of less than 10,000 members.’
Religion/Spirituality	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



In a report published in mid-November, two thirds of GPs were shown to be in favour of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) dropping its opposition to assisted dying. The survey found that 38% of 689 GP respondents favoured the adoption of a neutral stance on assisted dying by the RCGP, while 31% said the college should go even further and support a change in the law to allow doctors to help terminally ill patients to die in the UK. The article notes that the RCGP is currently opposed to a change in the law on assisted dying.
Health	Evangelicals Now, January 2014



Globally, women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined, according to the UN. Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women worldwide, irrespective of religion, culture, ethnicity, education, class and religion. Women’s Aid reports that in the UK, two women every week die due to intimate partner violence. In the UK a woman is assaulted in her own home every 60 seconds. And the Home Office says 25 per cent of women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime.
Social Issues	Idea, Jan/Feb 2014



Today in the UK, over 11 million households have mortgage debt worth around £1.2 trillion. Unsecured lending or consumer credit stands at around £160 billion. Taken together, we owe around £29,000 for every adult in the country, more than an entire year’s income for the average person.
Money	Idea, Jan/Feb 2014

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