NEWS IN BRIEF

MORNING-AFTER-PILL

Hopes are rising that Tesco may be steadily giving up their free distribution of the Morning-After-Pill.  Seventeen Tesco stores were involved in the Government-sponsored scheme, but a Tesco spokesman told Christian Voice the number is now down to around twelve.  As the pilots come to an end, they are not being renewed.  The Tesco Annual General Meeting is due to be held in the next few weeks, Tesco having just announced their financial end-of-year results.

The fact that Tesco say they restricted distribution to girls aged sixteen and over after pressure from UKLifeLeague and SPUC is not really the issue; the issue is still the morning‑after pill itself, and it is sad that Tesco have not withdrawn completely from the scheme.  Please pray that the matter is raised by shareholders at the Tesco AGM and that there is a pro-life presence outside as well as inside.

HALF OF BRITAIN BELIEVES IN RESURRECTION

A recent survey indicates that nearly half of the population (47%) believes that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and that the vast majority of those questioned correctly identified the religious significance of Easter.  Dr Peter Brierley, a former Government statistician and director of Christian Research, said, “[The figures] add strength to the feeling that Britain is still a Christian country, as evidenced by the 72 per cent who said they were Christian in the 2001 census earlier this year.”  However, there is a widening gap between what people profess to believe and whether or not they attend church, notably in the established church where attendance over Easter was less than two per cent of the population.

SUNDAY WORKING CASE LOST

Mr Stephen Copsey, a former employee of WBB Devon Clays, a Norfolk-based chemicals company, lost his case for unfair dismissal after he was sacked for refusing to work on Sundays.  The tribunal stated that his employers had not acted unreasonably and had attempted to make alternative opportunities available.  Mr Copsey was supported by the Keep Sunday Special organisation.  John Alexander, director of the campaign, said that the outcome of the case showed that Christians suffered discrimination in this country and were not protected by the Race Relations Act in the same way as other faiths.  Mr Copsey’s barrister saw the case as a test case under the Human Rights Act aiming to protect an individual’s liberty to follow their religious beliefs.  The case is likely to be appealed.

BILDERBERG 2003 SET FOR VERSAILLES

Information from Tony Gosling

Leaks from last May’s Bilderberg meeting were one of the first indications in the world that Iraq had been selected for the transatlantic alliance’s next military outing.