Key Quotes for 2012

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




A new ComRes poll has revealed the scale of opposition to David Cameron’s plans to redefine marriage without any electoral mandate. The poll shows that both the Conservatives and Lib Dems will lose votes and parliamentary seats over Government plans to redefine marriage to allow same sex marriage. The shocking figures come as the petition started by the Coalition for Marriage, (C4M), was signed by more than 475,000 people. The petition opposing the Government’s plans to change the definition of marriage is already the biggest active campaign in the UK, having been signed by more people than voted in the local elections in Birmingham, or Manchester.
Politics	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



The idea of "girl power" has led teenage girls to believe they can drink as much as men, a World Health Organi¬sation report suggests. Interviews with teenagers in Europe and North America found those in England, Scotland and Wales were among the heaviest drinkers. Almost half of 15-year-old British girls had been drunk at least twice. The Health Behav¬iour in School-aged Children study found the world average was 29 per cent. Wales was the third worst country for teen¬age drinking, Scotland sev¬enth and England eighth. Prof Candace Currie of the University of St Andrew's, who worked on the study, said the gender gap on "risk taking" behaviour had narrowed in countries with more equality.
Young People	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



GPs are being put under pressure to reduce the number of patients they refer to hospital in order to save money, a survey has suggested. Research by GP magazine has found hat more than half of GPs had experienced "inappropriate demands" from local NHS managers to send fewer patients to hospital. The NHS is struggling to save £20 bil¬lion in order to cope with more modest increases in funding than in previous years, at a time when the demand for health care is rising. The doctors spoken to in the survey described a "constant pressure to justify referrals and admis¬sions, and pressure to avoid them".
Health	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



Family doctors are giving out almost two million prescriptions a year contain¬ing potentially life-threatening errors, the General Medical Council warns today. One in five patients is receiving drugs from GPs with mistakes including wrong dosage, incorrect instructions or inadequate monitoring, the doctors' regulator finds. Most of the serious errors related to the blood-thinning drug warfarin, which researchers said could have "catastrophic" consequences if not properly monitored. Elderly people and young children are twice as likely to be given a prescription with an error, the GMC study into prescribing errors shows. The study found evidence that GPs are signing prescrip¬tions without seeing patients, issuing repeat prescriptions without questions and failing to adjust drug dosages follow¬ing new tests.
Health	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



At the beginning of April, the Prime Minister told church leaders that he does not want to 'fall out’ with them over his con¬troversial plan to redefine marriage. Speaking at a Downing Street Easter reception, David Cameron said: 'I hope we won't fall out too much over gay marriage'. He added: 'There'll be some strong argu¬ments and strong words'. However, the Prime Minister also appeared to suggest that the proposals could be defeated: 'If this doesn't go ahead, there will still be civil partnerships, so gay people will be able to form a partnership that gives them many of the advantages of marriage'. Also at the Easter reception, Mr. Cameron welcomed the 'Christian fight-back' against secular attempts to remove faith from public life and said that his government was 'doing God'.
Politics	Evangelicals Now May 2012



The head of the BBC, Mark Thompson, admitted at the end of February that the broadcaster would never mock Muhammad like it mocks Jesus. He made the remarks in an interview for a research project at the University of Oxford, where he explained that Jesus is fair game because Christianity has broad shoulders and fewer ties to ethnicity. Mark Thompson said: 'The point is that, for a Muslim, a depiction, particularly a comic or demeaning depiction, of the prophet Muhammad might have the emo¬tional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography. The Director General of the BBC also said that the BBC would never have broadcast Jerry Springer The Opera — a controversial musical that mocked Jesus — if its target had been Muhammad.
Media	The Christian Institute, Evangelicals Now Aril 2012



With the UK Government expected to launch its public consultation on plain packaging of tobacco products tomorrow, UK residents overwhelmingly believe a ban on branded packs would increase the black market for cigarettes. That’s according to the results of a new independent poll of people living in and around the UK’s major cities. Additionally, another piece of research, consisting of a behavioural experiment involving 3000 UK residents, released by London Economics, shows that plain packaging would result in consumer preferences shifting from premium to cheaper products, making cigarettes more affordable.
Health	Media Intelligence Partners - 15 April 2012



Two Christian midwives lost their case in March and will no longer be able to opt-out of assisting in abortions. The midwives, Mary Doogan and Connie Wood, argued that they had a right to refuse to direct or assist other midwives performing abortions due to the conscience clause in the Abortion Act 1967. The right of midwives to opt-out of abor¬tions had historically been respected by Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, yet it recently changed its stance by imposing an obligation on midwives to watch over, and sometimes assist with, late abortions. The court ruled that the midwives' role is not covered by the conscience opt-out in the Abortion Act. The two women will now consider whether to appeal, and are being supported by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
Religious Persecution	Christian Concern/SPUC, Evangelicals Now April 2012



Some families could lose around 20 times more than they gain from tax changes by April next year, the TUC warned today. The body says families will have gained up to £381 by April 2013 due to the personal allowance threshold rising faster then inflation, but they could lose out on more than £4000 following changes to working tax credits over the same period. The TUC has updated its tax credit calculator to allow families to work out roughly how they are affected.
Money	The Sentinel – 4th April 2012



Teachers won millions of pounds in compensation last year after accidents, injuries, assaults and discrimination at school new figures show. In one case, a teacher was awarded more than £222,000 after suffering a brain injury when a pupil hit her on the head with a bus door. Another was handed almost £175,000 after being punched in the head by the parent of a pupil. Others were given settlements of thousands of pounds after tripping or slipping at school, the figures show.
Education	The Sentinel – 6th April 2012



Scotland Yard was plunged into a racism crisis after revealing ten new complaints have been referred to the Independent Police complaints Commission. Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey insisted “the Met does not tolerate racism.” He added “Today we have referred seven cases to the IPCC in addition to the three cases already reported in the media. As the review continues there may be further referrals.” Eight officers have now been suspended.
The Law	The Sentinel – 6th April 2012



The House of Commons on Tuesday evening debated a motion that invited the Government to consult on whether to put guidelines on assisted suicide prepared by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, on a statutory footing. Guidance issued in 2012 by Mr Starmer removed terminal illness, disability and degenerative physical conditions from the list of factor to be take into consideration in deciding whether or not to prosecute. The proposal was defeated.
Social Issues	The Church Times – March 2010



The Government has declined a request from the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) for a significant review of RE alongside the current National Curriculum review, it has emerged. The council, which is concerned that RE is being marginalised by its exclusion from the EBacc and other government decisions, made its proposal in a letter at the end of October. The refusal was refused late in January in a response from Schools Minister, Nick Gibb.
Education	The Church Times – March 2012



Church of England Schools face the challenge of maintaining their ‘distinctive’ Christian character says a report by the church. The Church School of the Future recommends that church schools should strongly assert their Christian ethos in an increasingly fragmented educational system and amid attacks from secularists. The report argues: “High quality religious education and collective worship should continue to make contributions to the church schools ethos.” Dioceses, school leaders, politicians and other stakeholders with an interest in education, contributed evidence to the report, which was launched at a conference at Lambeth Palace.
Education	The War Cry – March 2012



Faith groups have the buildings, leadership, staying power and presence in the community to make an important contribution to welfare provision, said MP and former Cabinet Member David Blunkett during a public debate in Central London. The event, chaired by former Home Secretary Charles Clarke was the Latest in a series of Westminster Faith Debates. “Faith groups have something that is vital to any welfare provision and to helping people help themselves – premises,” said Mr Blunkett. “The provision of community facilities over the centuries has been built up, and alongside it community leadership. The reason why community leadership from faith is so important is continuity – people will stick it out because of their faith in a way that even the most saintly of those in the secular field will find it hard to do. People’s faith is something that they can draw on to keep them going when things are going very rough, dealing with people who have got addictions or are on the street on a Friday or Saturday night when more formalised services are emergency only.”
	The War Cry – March 2012

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