In today’s episode of Cross Section, the team react to Rachel Reeves’ budget. However, this is not all that is discussed.
The episode begins with a conversation about the Supreme Court ruling on religious education in Northern Ireland. The team helpfully unpack the nuance of what this means, and how schools and Christians can respond not with panic but with confidence and clarity.
The main bulk of the episode turns to the team’s responses to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget announcement. The team recorded straight after and unpack all that was announced, including more than a dozen changes to taxes seeking to raise money to fund increased spending and cover lower-than-projected income. We discuss the likely impact of these changes on the country’s finances, on politics and on us individually.
Two thirds of evangelicals support the lifting of the child benefit cap, but what might they think about a mansion tax, a milkshake tax and a minimum wage increase? We know that evangelicals take a wide range of positions on economic issues, but how can we think more biblically about our national finances?
The team finish with a discussion about the recent announcement about a new clinical trial that will assess the impact of puberty blockers on children. Only last year, Dr Hilary Cass published the Cass Review, which revealed that there was “insufficient/inconsistent evidence about the effects of puberty suppression on psychological or psychosocial wellbeing, cognitive development, cardio-metabolic risk or fertility.”
Now it has been revealed that more than 200 children will be involved in this trial over the next few weeks. What are the ethical implications of this? How can Christians process this announcement and respond?
