UCB Broadcast November 2008

Hello and welcome to the Parliamentary prayer update, my name is Daniel Webster and I work for the Evangelical Alliance in their public affairs team.

US Election

On the 4 November Barack Obama was elected as the next President of the United States. Following an epic 21 month campaign he defeated Senator John McCain by a comfortable margin to become the first black president of the United States. The Democratic Party also won seats in the Senate and House of Representatives to strengthen their governing power.

Barack Obama is currently assembling his team and deciding his priorities for when he takes office on the 20th January next year as George W Bush steps down.

Please pray for Barack Obama over the next few months as he prepares to take office as President of the United States. Give him wisdom and guidance to know how he should lead America in the years to come.

Pray for his family in this turbulent time as his young children are drawn into an unfamiliar and challenging situation.

Assisted Suicide

Last week parliament discussed changing the laws relating to assisted suicide. This follows the High Court case brought by Debbie Purdy seeking clarification on whether her husband would be prosecuted if he travelled with her to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland. The court did not provide any further guidance on the law and insisted that this was the responsibility of parliament.

The most recent attempt to change the law was spearheaded by Lord Joffe in 2006, although this failed it is quite possible that a fresh challenge to the law will be brought in the near future. During last week’s debate the Government Minister, Maria Eagle refused to be drawn on whether there would be parliamentary time for such legislation.

Please write to your MP asking them to protect the lives of ill and vulnerable people by rejecting any attempt to change the law.

Please pray that people who are terminally ill are not treated as second class citizens but are loved and cared for.

Economy

The Government will publish its pre-budget report on Monday. With continued uncertainty over the state of the economy, both domestically and across the world, expectations are rising for the government to act to prevent further economic decline.

World leaders met in Washington at the weekend to discuss the global situation and agreed that coordinated action was necessary. The consensus over public spending between British party leaders seems to be falling apart. Nick Clegg has called for tax cuts, David Cameron is trying to find efficiency savings so that tax burden is reduced and the newspapers report that Gordon Brown is contemplating a tax cut for those who suffered from changes in the 10p tax band.

Please pray for Alistair Darling and the rest of the Government as they decide on measures to help the economy.

The number of people out of work and facing home repossession is rising rapidly. We heard last week that 1.8 million people are now unemployed.

Please pray for those who are suffering in the current economic climate. Pray that we will be able to look beyond material things and place our trust in God.

For further insights on these and other issues The Evangelical Alliance Public Affairs department produces a monthly parliamentary magazine, PQ, and a monthly ‘Prayer and Campaigns’ action and prayer sheet. Both of these are available on our website www.eauk.org along with topical political briefing material. If you have any questions please e-mail the public affairs team at:- pub-aff@eauk.org.