Exclude me out of the C of I’s current fascination with same sex relationships – at least for a while.
The real issues on which the Church as a whole and the various spokespersons on the SSR’s are silent are the current financial state of Europe, and the impact of this on young people, the elderley and the poor.
When both Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England together with the Chairman of the European Central Bank tells us that we are in totally unchartered waters financially – well we had better sit up and listen. Those who have will already have acquired new additions to their financial terminology like “QE2” – quantitative easing 2 – where you simply print more money and hope to buy your way out of a very deep recession. That is the situation in the UK where polls tell us that the general public is happy that the government appears to be reacting positively to the situation.
Tell that to those who have seen one third of the value of their private pensions plans being wiped out over the past two years – and it may get worse. The stock market has endured its most miserable quarter since the fall-out from the dotcom crash in 2002, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 index losing almost 14% of its value, some £212bn, in the three months to the end of September.
And what about the public service trade union members who are taking the biggest hit in the government’s attempts to reduce public spending?
The general public are fearful and are cutting back with results which affect the public purse. The AA reported recently that The UK Treasury has lost £985m in tax receipts on account of the 15% drop in petrol sales over the past three years and that the decline is down to record pump prices.
Of course there continues to be sectors which seem to behave in a separate world apart from that which affects the general public. Take a couple of financial indices from the escapist world of soccer. The Observer recently stated that English football’s national stadium, Wembley, makes an annual operating profit of between £40m and £50m. Built for £757m and opened in 2007, the stadium will to start pumping cash into the game by 2015, one year later than planned. And the BBC informed us that football clubs in England paid out £99m on changing managers last season according to figures released by the League Managers Association. The figure of £99m would have been higher had agents fees and the cost of sacking and replacing a manager’s backroom team been taken into account.
The UK unemployment stats this week were depressing in the extreme. UK unemployment rose by 114,000 between June and August to 2.57 million, a 17-year high, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate also increased to 8.1%. The unemployment total for 16-24 year olds hit a record high of 991,000 in the quarter, a jobless rate of 21.3%. The number of people out of work and claiming benefits rose 17,500 to 1.6 million in September. Other figures showed a record cut in the number of part-time workers, down by 175,000, and there was also a record reduction of 74,000 in the number of over-65s in employment.
The corresponding figures for Northern Ireland show there has been another rise in unemployment in Northern Ireland, with young people finding it hardest to get jobs. The number of benefit claimants signing on in September increased by 500 on the previous month. This brings the total number out of work in Northern Ireland to 60,900, the highest level since September 1997.
The number of unemployed people, aged 18 to 24, is estimated at 18%, meaning almost one in five cannot find a job. The overall unemployment rate in Northern Ireland is 7.6%. In the last year, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit has risen by 3,000.
These hard stats come at a time when energy prices are rising as never before. Which reported that the cheapest domestic energy deal available to UK householders has risen above £1,000 a year for the first time. Scottish Power has withdrawn its £990 internet tariff, following moves by other energy providers in recent weeks.
The initiative by Home Start in Antrim and promoted by MLA, Danny Kinahand, shows an excellent local response to the desperate situation in which an increasing number of people find themselves. (See report on this site this week). People should not be forced to the point where the choice is “between heat or eat” at Christmas. This locally driven initiative is proof, if any were needed, that a Christian and community response can be made to the big and serious issues…
… Issues upon which the church at large would appear to be silent and inactive.
Houston McKelvey