PM Johnson pleads for caution as ‘Freedom Day’ arrives in England
London, UKReuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson ends more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, urging the public to remain cautious but putting his faith in vaccines to protect the country even as infections are surging. On what local media have dubbed “Freedom Day”, Johnson’s decision to lift regulations in favour […]
Saving ‘friendless’ churches from demolition in England and Wales
Religion Unplugged The structure of St Baglan’s Church in North Wales is simple, with plastered stone walls and whitewashed timbers between the slate slabs of its roof and floor. The 13th century sanctuary was rebuilt in the 1800s, but the carved doorway lintel dates from the 5th or 6th century. An adjacent field contains the […]
Postcards: Black, British, forgotten – UK arts retell lost tales
LIN TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on new efforts to tell stories about Black historical figures in the UK…
England goes into new lockdown as COVID-19 variant rampages
London, UKReuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered England into a new national lockdown to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases that threatens to overwhelm parts of the health system before a vaccine program reaches a critical mass. The announcement came just hours after the government hailed Britain’s success in becoming the first […]
Deaths of homeless hit new record in England and Wales
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation An estimated 778 homeless people died in England and Wales last year, according to official data released on Monday, the highest number since records began. The toll has risen for five consecutive years and is more than 60 per cent higher than in 2013 when the first comparable data was collated. […]
Europe’s Christmas dilemma: risk empty chairs next year?
Brussels, BelgiumAP Please leave a chair empty at this year’s family Christmas dinner as a precaution, or face the possibility of having that chair empty forever. That’s the stark dilemma Belgium’s Prime Minister has set to urge smaller festive family gatherings, as Europeans battle with containing the surging COVID-19 pandemic over the holiday season. In […]
Millions in England one pay cheque away from homelessness
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Almost three million people in England are one pay cheque away from losing their homes because they cannot pay the rent, housing charity Shelter said on Thursday. Just under half of working people living in privately rented homes in England would be unable to afford rent for more than a month if […]
ESSAY: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEEDS TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT BREXIT – HERE’S WHY
In an article first published on The Conversation, JONATHAN CHAPLIN, of the University of Cambridge, outlines why the Church of England needs to be a stronger voice in the Brexit conversation…
STRANGESIGHTS: WHEN READING THE FINE PRINT BRINGS A REWARD; WALES OWES ENGLAND SOME LAND?; AND, TELEGRAM FINALLY ARRIVES – 50 YEARS LATE
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Rough sleeping falls in England – but “damning” rise in London
Thomson Reuters Foundation The number of people sleeping rough in England fell in 2018 for the first time in a decade to 4,677, the British government said on Thursday, after pledging to end the problem by 2027. Yet numbers were up 16 per cent in England’s three largest cities – Birmingham, Manchester and London – […]