This Preposterous Petrol Panic!

Britain appears to have been seized by an outbreak of irrational panic, totally unjustified by circumstances.  At garages all over the UK people are queuing up for hours to fill their vehicle tanks and other suitable containers with fuel in preparation for a possible strike by tanker drivers.

Why all the panic?

Let us look at the facts.  No strike date has yet been set.  Unite, the union concerned, must give seven days’ notice before any strike action takes place.  Seven days would be plenty of time for all the drivers in Britain to fill their fuel tanks. 

There is no need for people to panic, yet they are doing so all over the country and causing problems for others.  Queues for fuel at my local Morrison’s are preventing more level headed shoppers from entering the supermarket car park so that they can do their ordinary weekly shopping. Not only that but the long line of cars is leading to unnecessary congestion on surrounding roads.

Hopefully my Christian brothers and sisters are not amongst those panicking.  Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).  If we are not to worry about the food we eat or the clothes we wear – essentials for life – then surely we should not worry about the amount of petrol or diesel in our cars.

An Unjust and Unfair Budget

Like many people in this country I was not looking forward to the budget today; not because I was concerned that I might be worse off as a result of the budget but because I was concerned that if the reports about the budget were true then it would be the usual Tory story of the rich getting richer whilst the poor are ground even further into the ground.  Alas my fears seem to have been confirmed.

George Osbourne will no doubt argue that by raising the income tax threshold to over £9,000 he has put more money into the pockets of hard working families.  This may be true, but he has done nothing at all for those who are really in need and who, often through no fault of their own are forced to exist on benefits.  The budget offers no hope at all for the really needy in our society; indeed there is an intention to try to save a further £14 billion on benefits; not only will the poorest in our society not be gaining any improvements in their incomes, they will actually see that income decrease.

A further attack on the poor comes in the form of the 3p increase in fuel duty from August onwards.  Whilst the environmental lobby will hail this as a step in the right direction it still impacts adversely on the poor.  Not only does a fuel increase mean a bigger cost in filling a car with petrol or diesel, it can also lead to a rise in bus fares and food bills (because the food will cost more to transport).  Those with middle to high incomes can absorb these increasing costs with relatively little discomfort; not so those who are just about managing to make ends meet some of the time and sometimes failing to do even that.

What about the rich?  Has the budget adversely affected them?  Apparently not!  Whilst the poor are being asked to share in the pain of government cuts the rich have received a cut in the top rate of tax from 50% to 45%.  Increases in Stamp Duty will only be paid if they buy new homes.

So, we have a budget that sees the rich getting richer and, surprise, surprise, the poor getting poorer.    I am no economist, and no doubt some of the subtleties of the budget have completely by passed me; but it doesn’t seem fair, it doesn’t seem just.

The Old Testament prophets spoke strongly against the injustices in their society and Jesus himself had a few things to say about how we should treat the poor.  We need to look at the society we are living in and question whether it meets Biblical standards of justice.  I am very much afraid that it doesn’t and that the budget will only serve to make the injustice even greater.

Praying for Fabrice Muamba: Prayer Is Still Valued In The UK.

I'm not a football fan, not even remotely interested in football and until last Saturday evening I had never even heard of Fabrice Muamba  When I heard about his heart attack on Saturday afternoon I offered a prayer for the Muamba and those close to him.

On Sunday morning at our local Methodist church on of the church youth group surprised our Minister by asking if we could pray during the service for Fabrice Muamba.  Surprised, and I suspect delighted, our Minister lead a prayer for Fabrice duiring the service.

It was reported on the BBC News website on 19th March that Fabrice's family were 'exhorting the country to believe in the power of prayer' and that it was thought that millions were praying for him (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17429779).

I am not seeing this as a sudden outpouring of Christian faith, but I think it does show that deep down inside many people there is still a belief in a God of some kind and a belief that God answers prayer.  There is a belief in some higher power and it see,ms that when we want to help somebody and there is nothing else we can do we will pray for them.

For Christian this is encouraging.  The New Atheists like Richard Dawkins try to promote the idea that they are winning the arguement and that belief in deity is decreasing in this country whereas this outpouring of prayer suggest that deep down people sense, even if they cannot articute it, that there is indeed a God whh hears our prayers and responds to them.

A Fresh Attack On Sunday Observance

It is being reported today that the government are intending to suspend the Sunday Trading Laws on eight weekends from July 22^nd to cover the period of the Olympics and Paralympics.  Chancellor George Osbourne has said “We've got the whole world coming to London - and the rest of the country - for the Olympics.  It would be a great shame - particularly when some of the big Olympic events are on Sunday - if the country had a closed for business sign on it." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17419351)

The government have said that they are making this move to boost the country’s economy and on one level it could be said that with the perilous state it is in our economy needs all the help that it can get; though whether extended opening will lead to an increase in spending or just a wider spread of existing spending is open to debate.  Important though the economy undoubtedly is to modern society there are other considerations that must be at least as important if not more so.

As a Christian I was opposed to the changes in the Sunday Trading Laws introduced by the last Conservative government and I am opposed to even a temporary further relaxation for mere commercial gain, especially if it is true that this is an experiment to see if permanent changes can be made in the future, as is being suggested.

I am not actually opposed to Sunday trading on what might be seen as strictly religious grounds; that Sunday is the day when we remember the greatest event in history, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  I recognise that most people in 21^st century Britain do not go to church and either have no faith or follow other faith paths and so such observance is meaningless to them.

I am opposed to Sunday Trading on two very practical grounds:

1.    1. That despite the fact that legislation is supposed to protect the rights of workers who do not wish to work Sundays I personally know of people who are effectively forced by their employees to work on a Sunday and, in some cases, miss the chance to worship because of it.  Jobs in the retail sector are now often advertised as including Sunday working.  As the Keep Sunday Special campaign have pointed out “At present, retail staff do have a legal right to request an opt-out from working on a Sunday, but in practice very few take it up for fear of losing their job, harming their promotion prospects or damaging relationships with colleagues. A survey by Usdaw found that only 11% of their members have had the confidence to take up the opt-out, and 62% have come under pressure to work on Sundays when they didn't really want to.” (http://www.keepsundayspecial.org.uk/Web/Content/Default.aspx?Content=62)

2.    2.  That, as Rev Sally Hitchiner, of St John's Church in Ealing, West London, told the BBC: "We're concerned it could become a precedent that we could lose some of the specialness of Sunday.  Sunday should be a time for relationships, there should be a time when we put some boundaries on consumerism, so you can go to the park and play football with the kids, and take your mum breakfast in bed." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17419351 )  Sunday was always a time for families and family activities and Sunday Trading could arguably be said to have eroded this.

I think that it is time the Government reviewed Sunday Trading, with a view to tightening up rather than relaxing the Sunday Trading laws.  Stronger legal protections are needed to ensure that workers are not forced to work on Sundays against their will as a bare minimum.  No job (except those specifically for Sundays only) should be advertised as including Sunday working and it should be illegal for it to be mentioned at any stage during the recruitment and interview process.  Only once a person is employed should they be asked about their willingness to work or not work on a Sunday with the absolute right to refuse without detriment to job or career prospects.   The regulations really need to be taken further though, with a return to a ban on large shops opening on a Sunday at all; a return to the situation that existed before The Sunday Trading Act 1994; but with the regulations strictly enforced and fines large enough to prevent it being worthwhile for even the largest companies to flout the legislation.

Some of my brothers and sisters in Christ may indeed feel that shops should be closed on Sunday as a mark of respect because it is the Lord’s Day.  I don’t think that this position is tenable in a multi-faith society; but I do feel that for the other reasons given above, and for many more given by the Keep Sunday Special campaign we must protest against this latest government nonsense.