Jeremy Hunt with Ghana foreign minister Honorable Shirley Ayorkor Botchway
Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP with Ghana foreign minister Honorable Shirley Ayorkor Botchway
Ghana is leading the way in Africa in encouraging self-sufficiency. The West-African nation is emerging as one of five or six real powerhouses on the continent. It’s ‘Beyond aid’ proposals aim to add value to natural resources rather than just ship out raw materials, to modernise agriculture, reduce corruption and transform education.
UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP was on a five-day, five-nation tour of Africa in April and May 2019. He started in Senegal on 29th April, went to Ghana on the 30th, Nigeria on 1st May. He then flew to Ethiopia before rounding off his trip in Kenya.
Describing the countries as having five of the fastest-growing economies on the continent, he told the Today programme, ‘When a Brexit agreement finally unties the UK from the EU, the UK government is looking to boost trade with Africa.’
Mr Hunt’s main goal
This is what Mr Hunt said about his main goal: ‘There is a central purpose [to the visit] which is to change the motor of our relationship with African countries from one based on aid to one based on enterprise and prosperity. I’m a big supporter of the 0.7% [aid] target and there are many African countries where that is desperately needed, like the DRC with its Ebola outbreak. But there are other countries, like Senegal, where I was yesterday, where the UK is about to overtake France and become the biggest international investor, Ghana, where I am today, where they have a national strategy which they call the “Beyond aid” strategy. And I think sometimes China, with its big infrastructure projects, is better in the eyes of African countries, in tapping into the future, and their excitement about the opportunities of the future.
‘To do this, I want to set out the stall for the UK to be the new partner of choice across Africa.’
Foreign Aid problems
It is worth saying Mr Hunt’s comment about being a ‘big supporter’ of the current Government policy of 0.7% aid target (spending 0.7% of gross national income on aid) is not popular with Conservative party members. It could come under challenge in a forthcoming leadership election.
A jaundiced view would be that, apart from actual emergencies like an Ebola outbreak, or a real failure of a major harvest, external aid depresses local prices for the commodities despatched and impoverishes local traders and farmers.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the United Kingdom would consider cutting off aid to any country that failed to recognize gay rights. Then President John Atta Mills pledged to never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana. He said Mr Cameron ‘does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those that exist’ in Britain.
Financing anti-Christian NGOs
Rather than the blunt threat of cutting off aid, there is a more subtle approach. Much UK foreign aid aims to export evils like sodomy, abortion and feminism through NGOs to the developing world. Pro-gay and pro-abortion NGOs in African countries are completely financed from the West. Even when projects are ostensibly neutral, there will be an underlying ‘equality’ element. The UK is one of the worst funding culprits, although an LGBT advocacy group in Ghana known as the Solace Initiative started with funding from Canada.
Ghana’s vision of doing without foreign aid may bring unexpected benefits. Paradoxically, Mr Cameron’s 2011 pitch may have provided a much-needed spur for the initiative.
Ghana without aid
In a press release on the official Ghana.gov website, journalist Sule N. Jotie starts by referring to ‘the natural wealth God gave Ghana which, if prudently exploited and managed, will lift Ghana beyond foreign aid.’ Clearly, the Ghanaian Government, like most of sub-Saharan Africa is not afraid to give the Almighty the thanks and glory.
Jotie continues: ‘Since the 1960s, the country has depended on aid from developing partners for her development.
‘African countries that gained independence in the 1950s and 60s were faced with many challenges—infrastructural deficit and lack of skilled labour, among others. To accelerate their development, the newly-independent African countries relied so much on assistance from their development partners to fund their development needs.
As the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia rightly put it: “Development aid was born out of the need to accelerate post-colonial development. Aid (grants, loans and projects and technical assistance) was to help fill the savings-investment gap, the technical capacity gaps and the development finance gaps in order to promote growth and development.”
‘Indeed, Ghana falls among that group of African countries that have relied on foreign aid to fund its development since 1957, in spite of the country’s wealth in natural resources – cocoa, gold, timber, oil and gas, bauxite and manganese, among others.’
Use of tariffs
The West has been happy to take the resources tariff-free and re-export the finished products back to Africa. For example, the EU has zero tariffs on import of raw cocoa and coffee beans, but imposes tariffs on finished products. As a result, Germany makes more money from processed coffee than the whole of the African continent earns from exporting coffee beans.
However, after taking office on 7th January 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said: ‘We want to build a Ghana beyond aid; a Ghana which looks to the use of its own resources. We want to build an economy that is not dependent on charity and handouts, but an economy that will look at the proper management of its resources as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country.’
Adding value
Jotie goes on: ‘Evidence on the ground suggests that Government’s One District, One Factory project is encouraging investment across the length and breadth of Ghana, a positive sign of the beginnings of value addition to the country’s resources to move the economy from one reliant on production and export of raw material to a value-added industrialised economy.
‘In that regard, Ghana’s cocoa, timber, gold, bauxite, diamond and manganese will have to be refined and value added before exportation by which more jobs would be created.’
The government is already working towards an Integrated Bauxite/Aluminium Development Authority to smelt the nation’s bauxite deposits. With its substantial iron ore and manganese deposits in the Western and Northern regions an integrated steel industry could serve the needs of the country and region and obviate the import of steel from the West..
Ghana is believed to have up to 5 to 7 billion barrels of petroleum in reserves, the sixth largest in Africa and 25th largest proven reserves in the world. Ghana also has up to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in its reserves. It is no surprise the President intends to establish petro-chemical industries to take advantage of the growth of the oil and gas industry.
Agriculture
The Government launched a ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative last year aimed at increasing food sufficiency, reducing food imports and creating jobs for the youth.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, says the use of labour, improved seeds and fertilizers combined with increased extension service delivery had resulted in the production of an additional 485,000 metric tonnes of maize, 179,000 metric tonnes of rice and 45,200 metric tonnes of vegetables with a total value of £180 million.
The Government is also planning an irrigation policy for the north, challenged by the Sahel regions of West Africa which have the same conditions like northern Ghana but export fruits and vegetables to Ghana from irrigated farms.
Corruption and Education
Digitisation of national ID cards, drivers license and vehicle registration, business registration, e-commerce and the introduction paperless port operations are aimed at reducing revenue leakages and ensuring faster turnaround in customs processing and clearance of goods. The Government hope the monies released will help finance the country’s development agenda instead of relying on foreign aid.
Across Africa, high school education is privately-funded. However, the Akufo-Addo administration is implementing a Free Senior High School programme to drive its socio-economic activities rather than importing a skilled human workforce.
Christian faith
Both the President and his finance minster, Ken Ofori-Atta, are devout Christians in a nation where 70% of the population share the Christian faith.. They have even proposed building a national interdenominational cathedral in Accra. But the Government is strongly in need of private finance for its Beyond Aid projects and the proposed cost has been criticised. Equally, it shows the administration has a heart of worship.
Ghana’s plan is dramatic and ambitious. The questions remains, despite Jeremy Hunt’s fulsome praise: will the West actually allow it? A firm reliance on the Almighty and the power of our risen Saviour will be needed if the dream of Ghana Beyond Aid is to be realised.
PRAY: That Christian leaders across Africa will lead their nations in the ways of righteousness and peace, follow the Lord, and seek prosperity through his name
Pray the UK will help Ghana and other African nations to move ‘beyond aid’, to see it as an opportunity to British entrepreneurs and not as a threat to industry here. Well, they won’t do it through altruism, will they?
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Boris Johnson with a real issue of trust - can he keep his word to leave the EU on Halloween?
Boris Johnson with a real issue of trust – can he keep his word to leave the EU on Halloween?
1Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Yesterday, the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019 became law. Boris Johnson has dubbed it the ‘Surrender Act’. It compels him to ask for an extension to Article 50 for another three months past 31st October if Parliament has not approved a withdrawal deal with the EU. Then it allows the EU to specify the length of an extension.
Mr Johnson gave his word during his election campaign that he would take the UK out of the EU on Halloween. His words were, ‘Do or die’, ‘Come what may’. So what are his options?
Here we urge prayer for him to keep his word and refuse to send the letter drafted for him. We’ll argue he should dare the Remainers to take action against him. Mr Johnson may not be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Nevertheless, he is doing the will of the Lord in taking the UK out of the EU’s Revived Roman Empire. If that is the case, he may say:
Psalm 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
What indeed can they do? We shall explore their options – and his – below.
An issue of trust
Also yesterday, for the second time, the Government lost a vote on holding a general election in October. Why will the Opposition not agree to an October general election? They say it’s because they want to see their new Act put into effect first. But they also know that electoral success for the Conservatives depends on Boris delivering on his promise to take the UK out of the EU on Halloween whatever happens.
The Sun put it well: ‘They have defeated the Government on its central policy — but intend to keep it trapped in office for fear that an election will hand Boris the convincing victory polls indicate.’
John Crace, the Guardian’s sneering opinion-writer, said on BBC on Saturday morning (7th September 2019) there was an ‘issue of trust’ with Boris Johnson. Opposition MPs do not trust Boris Johnson to abide by their new law. Why do they not trust him to abide by it? Funnily enough, it’s because they trust him to keep his word. Whether they are right to do so is another matter, but he says he would rather ‘be dead in a ditch’ than ask for a ‘pointless’ delay.
The real issue of trust
So the real issue of trust works like this: Firstly, the Opposition appear not to trust Mr Johnson to break his word. Secondly, the Opposition certainly do not trust themselves to win an October general election. That is with good reason. Labour are so far behind in the polls they could not win a majority, as things stand.
Moreover, suppose the Tories were to enter into a pact with the Brexit Party. Each stood aside in the other’s winnable seats. In that event there could easily be a thumping No-Deal majority in a new October House of Commons.
Then Hilary Benn’s Surrender Act would be repealed. The UK would leave the EU without a deal on 31st October. But delay Brexit past All Hallows’ E’en and the polling shows the Tories as toast and victory for the Opposition. But on top of that, this is still a spiritual war. The prospect of leaving without a deal, or even leaving the EU at all, terrifies true Remainers.
Isa 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
Lawyers
Initially, politicians and the media talked about Boris resigning rather than send the letter, That’s all they were talking about on Friday afternoon. The idea he might simply refuse to send the letter had not yet occurred to them.
By Saturday morning it had. After all, he did say, ‘Come what may’ and ‘Do or die’. Ex-Tory rebels started consulting lawyers to see how they could force Boris Johnson to abide by their Surrender Act.
According to the BBC, they would seek some sort of Court Order to force him to send the EU the letter contained in the Surrender Act asking for an extension.
‘Sent to prison for contempt’
2Chron 19:6 (Solomon) said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.
Former director of public prosecutions Lord MacDonald, told Sky News legal action would mean a court ordering that ‘the law should be followed’.
‘A refusal in the face of that would amount to contempt of court’ which could ‘find that person in prison’, he said.
The cross-bench peer said this was ‘not an extreme outcome’ as it was ‘conventional’ that individuals who refuse to ‘purge their contempt’ are sent to prison.
Dominic Grieve agreed, saying Mr Johnson was acting like a ‘spoilt child having a tantrum’. (It’s funny how often people accuse others of doing exactly what they do themselves.) If he refuses to obey the law he will be ‘sent to prison for contempt,’ the Beaconsfield MP said.
Micah 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Rules for Radicals
In 1971 US civil rights activist Saul Alinsky wrote his ‘Rules for Radicals’. One challenge with Boris being sent to prison is it falls outside his experience. That contravenes the first of the ‘rules for radicals’. Alinsky writes: ‘When an action is outside the experience of the people the result is confusion, fear and retreat.’ (p127) This is where, for Mr Johnson, courage comes in. Furthermore, Boris can pull off a spell inside in a good cause if anyone can.
He would simply go around charming everyone as usual, being hailed by the lags as a phenomenon. Senior Conservatives and the Sun Newspaper are already talking about Boris in that scenario as a ‘Brexit Martyr.’
By the same token, being responsible for sending a Prime Minister to jail is outside the experience of Dominic Grieve and his pals. So this one cuts both ways.
Is that all you’ve got?
Alinsky argued the reaction from the establishment is more important than the action (or in this case the lack of action) from the radical which precedes it.
The establishment is rarely creative. It operates according to its own certain fixed rules. And it may be its reaction generates for you a swathe of positive publicity.
That prospect of prison is supposed to be really scary, but demands the response ‘Is that all you’ve got?’ Boris Johnson going to prison rather than break his word is the stuff of dreams for political campaigners. Jailed for standing up for the people against Parliament? It’s election landslide material.
Nor would time inside disqualify Mr Johnson from remaining as Prime Minister or as an MP. Under the Representation of the People Act 1981, a member of the House of Commons is only disqualified if found guilty of an offence and sentenced to more than one year in prison.
Happily, the Remainers forgot to make it an offence in the Surrender Act for the Prime Minister not to send their letter. On Sunday the Observer screamed: ‘Boris Johnson “will be forced from power if he defies no-deal law”.’ Nothing in their article backed up the headline. It was nonsense.
‘Not going to Pentonville’
However, former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption told Sky News ‘He’s not going to be marched off to Pentonville Prison.’ (The usual place for those in contempt of court is actually establishments as found on the Isle of Sheppey.) He sneered, ‘it’s much less dramatic than all that’.
There would be ‘plenty of ways’ to enforce the law, he went on. A judge could make an order demanding that a government official sign off the extension ‘in place of the prime minister’.
The problem there is the Act specifies ‘The Prime Minister’ shall send the letter, not any official or ‘a minister of the crown’. The Remainers made it personal. They wanted to humiliate Boris Johnson into breaking his word. It is precisely that which has scuppered them.
His Lordship went on to suggest ‘senior civil servants would refuse to co-operate with a prime minister who was wilfully breaking the law.’
However, the Prime Minister will not ask any civil servant to do anything, because there is not anything to do. All Mr Johnson has to do is nothing and wait for the Remainers to file papers.
Resignations
Warming to his theme, Lord Sumption went on, ‘He won’t get any co-operation, apart from the fanatics around him… the attorney general won’t sit there quietly while this happens.’
It may not be Attorney General Geoffrey Cox MP getting cold feet, but Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is running scared. He revealed his concerns about the Prime Minister in twitter. ‘We have spoken over the past 24 hours regarding the importance of the Rule of Law, which I as Lord Chancellor have taken an oath to uphold.’ The Independent says ‘the pro-EU justice secretary is one of four cabinet ministers on “resignation watch”, as No 10 ratchets up the rhetoric in a Brexit showdown heading for the courts.’
Don’t forget, if Boris Johnson does refuse to send the letter, and the Remainers do take him to court, a high-ranking QC will stand up for him in front of the judge. If not Geoffrey Cox, another lawyer will jump at the opportunity.
Don’t challenge the Surrender Act
Note that it is very important the Prime Minister remains passive and does not challenge the Surrender Act in court himself.
The Foreign Secretary has suggested Boris Johnson might go to court to challenge the order from parliament to delay Brexit. The Independent quoted Dominic Raab insisting the government would neither break nor comply with the new ‘law’. Mr Raab said: ‘We will look very carefully, legally at what it requires and what it doesn’t require.’
Asked if the government would go to the courts, he pointed to the failed legal actions to stop parliament being suspended. He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge programme: ‘We had two legal challenges last week and we won both of those.’
That is exactly the point. Those people wasted time going to court. Don’t do it. Wait for them to come for you.
Not ‘ignoring’ the law
Writing in the Daily Express, Leo McKinstry argues against ‘ignoring’ the new law. He writes: ‘That is the stuff of despots and revolutionaries, not British Government ministers who are meant to be guardians of the rule of law..’ The reason he is wrong is because the despots he refers to have the power to ignore law without repercussions. Boris Johnson does not. He runs the risk of being taken to court. So he makes himself subject to the law even while challenging it.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said although No 10 insisted it was not looking to break the new law, efforts were under way to examine ways of getting around it.
Once again, they should not waste their time. Just defy it. Make the Remainers take action against you. That is the principled thing to do and a bit of raw courage is what the public is crying out for. Here is Moses giving Joshua his final orders:
Deut 31:23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
Courage is do-able and more do-able if the Lord is with you. Boris Johnson needs faith in Jesus. Pray for him!
Impeachment
As it happens, Parliamentarians taking Boris to court is itself a sign of weakness. Their normal course would be to put down a motion of no confidence. But that is what Boris Johnson wants. Why? Because it must lead to a general election. That is because the combined opposition cannot agree who should be Prime Minister and form a government instead of Mr Johnson. That is precisely why they chose their Surrender Act approach.
Could the Prime Minister be found ‘in contempt of Parliament’? That form of words usually refers to obstructing Parliament in its work. It was used on 4th December 2018 to compel Mrs May’s administration to release the Attorney General’s advice. His advice when subsequently published severely damaged Mrs May’s case for her Withdrawal Agreement.
As for impeachment, a Parliamentary paper says this: ‘The last (unsuccessful) prosecution of an impeachment case was in 1806. The 1967 Select Committee on Parliamentary Privilege recommended that the right to impeach should be formally abandoned, for which legislation would have been necessary. The recommendation was repeated in the third report from the Committee on Privileges in 1976-77. However, the 1999 Report from the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege stated that ‘the circumstances in which impeachment has taken place are now so remote from the present that the procedure may be considered obsolete’.’
Bluster, or not?
QC Philippe Sands told the Observer: ‘Britain is a rule of law country, so he will comply or leave office. All other talk is bluster, as attorney general Geoffrey Cox will already have advised him.’
That sounds right, but in truth the UK is a nation founded on the rule of God’s law, who is our only lawgiver:
Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
God’s laws also have a teaching function and impact the heart:
Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Regulation not law
This United Kingdom has passed plenty of laws in rebellion against God’s laws. We have passed laws from hell in a covenant with death. It is also possible to pass non-criminal measures which look like laws but are mere regulations. The Lord Jesus quoted another passage from Isaiah:
Matt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
In the view I am proposing the Surrender Act is not a serious law but just a bit of political maneuvering. The Sun describes its authors as ‘illegitimate’ and ‘a parallel, unaccountable Remainer Government with no mandate.’
Boris Johnson would not go to hell for ignoring this non-law any more than he would for being offside in football.
Issue of trust again
ITV’s Robert Peston writes in the Spectator: ‘I don’t believe Johnson will ever voluntarily quit Downing Street. He’s waited for this moment too long. … It seems extraordinary that senior Tory MPs tell me that a serving prime minister should break the law, rather than break a promise that under no circumstances would he fail to take the UK out of the EU by October 31. The choice is between keeping his word or disobeying the law of the land. “He can’t sign the letter” said a Tory grandee and former Cabinet minister. “He has to precipitate a very real constitutional crisis”.’ It’s that issue of trust again.
The Daily Express records Iain Duncan Smith encouraging ‘Boris Johnson to defy parliament and the law in order to deliver Brexit.’ Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘This is about Parliament versus the people. Boris Johnson is on the side of the people, who voted to leave the EU.’
According to The Telegraph (£), Mr Johnson said: ‘They just passed a law that would force me to beg Brussels for an extension to the Brexit deadline. This is something I will never do.’
No UK Commissioner
Meanwhile, the Express claims the Prime Minister will ‘sabotage’ the EU. It goes on, ‘The defiant Prime Minister will use the EU’s own rules to bring it to a standstill from November 1.’ ‘Mr Johnson today tells Sunday Express readers: “I refuse to accept Corbyn’s pointless delay.” …’
Sources have said the Government will refuse to nominate a commissioner for the EU Commission. That, coupled with the PM’s refusal to extend, means the EU Commission will not be legally constituted on November 1 because of Article 17 of the Treaty of the European Union.
‘If the EU member states try to change the rules, Mr Johnson can use the British veto to prevent it.’
Silliness
I think we can disregard a couple of vacuous ideas. The first, mentioned by the Daily Telegraph (£), is for the Prime Minister to send the letter as demanded but to send a second covering letter saying he did not really mean it. That would not just be against the spirit of the Surrender Act. It would be silly and it would break his word. You cannot face two ways at once:
Matt 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
The second is he could send the letter and then use the UK’s veto – we should still be just about in the EU at this point – to prevent any extension. That would also strike at the issue of trust. It would break his pledge never to send the letter.
Nor will he send the letter, which as drafted gives no reasons whatever for an extension, then rely on the French or Dutch to veto it. Reasons see above.
On Conservative Home, Councillor Simon Fawthrop observes that the Surrender Act requires the Prime Minister to send the letter it specifies but fails to direct by what means. Amusingly he suggests the Prime Minister draft it and sign it on 19th October but entrust it to a languid hiker. Accordingly the hiker would take the rest of October and most of November to reach the EU Council in Brussels. But that is a silly idea, isn’t it?
Real deal
One matter for prayer would be to watch out for Labour bringing Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement back in the new Session of Parliament and Parliament voting it through as the next best thing to remaining. Which it is.
Furthermore, we cannot discount the possibility of the Government securing a real 11th-hour deal with the EU. There is word at the moment from the Daily Express of a possible deal which would treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. That is unacceptable. Nevertheless, we should pray rather than believe all we read in the papers. And always bear this in mind as we began by talking of an issue of trust:
Psalm 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
The original idea was to negotiate a trade deal. Mrs May blew that. Boris Johnson is constrained by time to some version of the May Withdrawal Agreement. There is no time for a real deal. No Deal still looks inevitable barring a total climb-down from the Prime Minister. And he knows that would destroy him and his party.
Whatever deal or pseudo-deal he proposes, the House of Commons could still vote against it and the Government would be back to square one.
The Lord has boxed them in
The BBC said yesterday morning: ‘The Irish government is also watching Westminster events closely, knowing that the prime minister is currently boxed in by the opposition parties and has few options left.’
They are wrong. It is beginning to dawn on Remainers that rather than box in the Prime Minister, the Lord (some will say ‘their own action’ – or both) has boxed them in:
Psalm 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.
The Times (£) thinks ‘Boris Johnson … looks all out of options and there is already speculation that he will soon be forced to resign. In truth, things are not as hopeless as they look. Mr Johnson does have one good option. He needs to cut a deal with the European Union.’ That would be nice, if there were time, but in its absence the Times, a Remainer paper, ignores the No-Deal option of sitting tight and doing nothing.
The Sun hints at the inaction option: ‘Many MPs think the Prime Minister has only two options if he refuses to ask the EU for an extension: break the law or resign. The truth is he could do neither. …Boris has rightly staked his reputation on refusing another extension. But the rebels think their new law on its own will force him to bend to their will. They may be in for a nasty shock.’ Yes, Mr Crace, Boris Johnson faces an issue of trust. We’ll pray he lives up to it and his enemies reap the prophecy of Jeremiah:
Jer 48:16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
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Some supporters of Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP really want to stop Brexit
Some supporters of Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP really want to stop Brexit
Make no mistake, the members of Parliament who will try to grab control of House of Commons business today or tomorrow with the intention of forcing through a law to tell the Prime Minister to ask for an Article 50 are not doing it to secure a ‘deal’.
They will never agree one. So what is behind the move?
The Bill’s other sponsors are Alistair Burt, Philip Hammond and David Gauke (Conservative), Tom Brake (LibDem), Stephen Gethins (SNP), Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru), Joan Ryan (TIG-Change), Caroline Lucas (Green), Chris Bryant and Stephen Doughty (Labour) and Nick Boles (ex-Conservative, now Independent).
As to the real purpose, around half of them really want to, in the words of that protester, ‘Stop Brexit!’
No reason for extension
Mr Benn’s Bill page 1
The Bill takes up four pages which Mr Been posted and we reproduce here. ITV news says, ‘The Bill requires the Government to either reach a deal with the EU, or gain Parliament’s approval for a no-deal exit by October 19.’
Actually, Clause 1(1) says the deal must be approved by both houses of Parliament by 19th October to meet the first condition. Clause 1(2) says Parliament must approve No Deal. It’s an ‘either/or’.
A House of Commons stuffed with Remainers will, of course, do neither of those. Wherefore Clause 1(3) will come into play. This tells the Prime Minister to write to the European Council ‘no later than 19 October 2019.’ Moreover, under Clause 1(4) he must ask in his letter for an Article 50 extension to 31st January 2020.
In fact, a Schedule on page 4 of the Bill specifies precisely the letter the Prime Minister must send. Curiously, the schedule’s letter gives the President of the European Council no reason for such an extension. Nor does it say the Prime Minister must travel to Brussels to present this lack of a case. Nor does it say he must accept whatever conditions the EU might put on such an extension.
How can Boris get around it, if passed?
Mr Benn’s Bill page 2
Mr Johnson’s threatened general election is now looking unlikely, which is a good thing. Who knows what could happen if one were called? So if Mr Johnson stays in office, another option is simply to ignore the new Act and be taken to court or held in contempt of Parliament. Now that would be ‘Do or Die’.
Alternatively, the BBC’s Norman Smith writes this: ‘To secure a delay would require the support of all 28 members of the EU. As the UK is still a member, Mr Johnson could – however bizarre this might sound – veto his own government’s position.’
So in the eyes of this writer the proposed Act of Parliament is something of a toothless tiger. But we are talking as if it will undoubtedly pass. That is not a given. Yes, Tory rebels may vote for it. But there may be as many Labour MPs who vote against. And there is a God in heaven. It would be better for Brexit happening on Halloween not to have it, the Government should still oppose it, and we should still pray against it.
Overrides Withdrawal Act
Mr Benn’s Bill page 3
Crazily, the Bill overrides the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 which MPs passed into law last year. As we reported, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay signed an Order to bring that Act into force last month. Under it, the UK will leave the European Union non 31st October.
But the new Bill says, in Clause 5(3): ‘The provisions of this Act override any statutory or other provision which would otherwise require the UK to leave the European Union on any specified date.’
Mr Benn’s Bill sets back ‘Exit Day’. ITV is not alone in the Remainy media in claiming a delay, ‘will also give time to allow Parliament to seek to build a consensus on the way forward.’ They haven’t managed it so far. Parliament’s ‘Indicative Votes’ went nowhere, after two attempts.
Some MPs want a ‘second referendum’. Others are in favour of scrapping Article 50 abruptly. Most Labour MPs simply want a Labour government. There is no chance of a ‘consensus’. That is why the rebels ditched the idea of a confidence vote followed by a government led by … well, by whom?
Benn or Letwin? Who is Prime Minister?
Mr Benn’s Bill page 4
In the usual run of things, this is what an MP does to take charge of the Commons Order Paper.
Firstly, he becomes leader of a political party. Secondly, he leads that party to victory in a general election. Thirdly, he appoints a Leader of the House to tell the Chamber what will happen when.
The Speaker, John Bercow MP is likely to grant that request. If the House agrees to hold the debate, the Parliament website says ‘The motion to be debated will be “That the House has considered the matter of [Topic]”.’
However, the Speaker is likely, as he did with the earlier Letwin / Cooper Bill, to allow amendments to the anodyne motion.
Mr Benn or a friend would then table an amendment to allow days to debate his Bill.
The LORD is still God
Overruling all these affairs of men is the most high God.
Psalm 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
We do not know what the Lord will do. We shall pray for peace and righteousness to prevail. The Bible says this about any earthly empire, such as the EU, coming in the spirit of Babylon:
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
The prayers of John Knox terrified Mary Queen of Scots.
John Knox is well known as 16th-century Scotland’s most fiery preacher. He was also on fire in prayer. Mary Queen of Scots is attributed with these words: “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”
Would that our rulers feared our prayers. Let us remember the night in 2006 when Tony Blair lost a key vote on his Racial and Religious Hatred Bill by one vote after his whips told him he could go home. That was an unexpected and dramatic answer to prayer. ‘Lord, how do you do that?’
Let us pray the LORD does something equally amazing over the course of the next few days:
Isa 25:3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
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Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP signs the order to ensure Brexit will happen on Halloween
Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP signs the order to ensure Brexit will happen on Halloween
Over the weekend, Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP made absolutely sure Brexit will now happen on 31st October, come what may.
The BBC did not highlight the story and nor did the Remain-supporting Guardian. Perhaps they reckoned their readers would not like the story.
It was left to the Brexiteer Daily Express to headline the event. The paper reported:
‘The Brexit Secretary signed a commencement order to bring the UK out of the European Union in a landmark do or die pledge’.
Withdrawal Act 2018 now all in force
The commencement order brought all the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 into force. MPs voted the Act through last September. Section 1 says simply: ‘The European Communities Act 1972 is repealed on exit day.’ ‘Exit Day’ was originally 31st March 2019. However, after Mrs May’s two extensions to Article 50, it shifted to 31st October.
The European Communities Act was the 1972 legislation which enabled laws from EU rulemakers to be installed automatically in the UK. It took the UK formally into the EEC, Euratom, and the European Coal and Steel Community.
Its repeal under Section 1 of the 2018 Act means the UK will directly control our policies from 1st November 2019. Existing laws made at the behest of the EU will remain in force until specifically repealed. But no new EU laws can apply to the UK starting from All Saints’ Day.
Needed a Minister to sign an Order
The very last section of the 2018 Act laid out the conditions for its Section 1 to come into force. It simply said; 25 (4) ‘The provisions of this Act, so far as they are not brought into force by subsections (1) to (3), come into force on such day as a Minister of the Crown may by regulations appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.’
In other words, some sections of the 2018 Act, dealing with preparations, came into force immediately. Section 1 was a key provision which needed a Minister of the Crown to bring into force.
Theresa May refused to let Mr Barclay sign the order.
No further extension past Halloween
Boris Johnson has given the go-ahead, and immediately tweeted his pleasure at the move.
He tweeted: “We are leaving the EU on October 31st. The signing of this document means we will take back control of our laws on Brexit day.”
Signing the Order means there cannot now be any further extension to Exit Day. As Steve Baker MP said: “It is absolutely totemic. It shows a transformation in the approach, that Boris Johnson is willing to leave on a fixed date with no question of extension. It’s the do-or-die pledge in black and white. It’s not merely symbolic.
“Once it’s signed that’s it, the UK is leaving. Theresa May did not bring the repeal of the European Communities Act on a fixed date because she was always willing to extend.”
Government of national unity squabbles
Meanwhile, Remain MPs were seen squabbling over the weekend about who if anyone could form an alternative ‘government of national unity’ in the event that Boris Johnson’s administration loses a vote of no confidence in September.
The BBC love all the Remainy gossip. So they reported at length on the latest stupidity. Jo Swinson MP, who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats (14 MPs) put forward two veteran MPs. Either the longest-serving man or woman could become Prime Minister, she said. They are Kenneth Clarke and Harriet Harman. Kenneth Clarke jumped at the idea, but there has been no discernible word from Ms Harman.
However, Jeremy Corbyn made a not unreasonable response. ‘Under normal constitutional processes in Britain, when a government collapses, the leader of the opposition is called on to form a government.’
It was ‘not up to Jo Swinson to decide who the next prime minister is going to be’, he added.
Labour won’t support the LibDem’s idea, and they won’t support him.
Psalm 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
No one to form an alternative
It all means if a vote of no confidence is carried, there will be no-one else able to form a government. Under the rules of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, if there is no successful vote of confidence in a government within fourteen days of a successful vote of NO confidence, a general election must be held. The Prime Minister decides the date. No 10 has said it would be held in early November, after ‘Exit Day’.
But could a vote of no confidence succeed? With a majority of just one, it only needs one Conservative MP to vote with Labour, or two to abstain, for the vote to carry and the fourteen day countdown to start.
However, any Tory MP not voting with the whip against that motion would never stand for the Tories again. It would an act of political suicide, ‘taking one’ for the Remain team.
All will lose their seats if a no confidence vote goes through. We should therefore expect many if not all of them to abstain. So Jeremy Corbyn winning a no confidence vote is by no means a done deal.
We’ll leave comment on the No Deal scare report which also came out over the weekend to another day. The end result of the weekend’s events is the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on on All Hallows E’en 2019. Don’t expect any agreement with the EU by then. Even if there were, Jacob Rees-Mogg is a savvy Leader of the House. He is unlikely to put before the House any motion on a withdrawal deal which could be highjacked and amended by Remainers.
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
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Not just Boris Johnson but the House of Commons now faces a Brexit Dilemma.
Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, front-runner of the Tory leadership candidates
Ten Conservative MPs are in the race to become their party’s leader and our next prime minister.
Ten Leadership Candidates
The candidates are:
Environment Secretary Michael Gove
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
Former Chief Whip Mark Harper
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
Home Secretary Sajid Javid
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
Previous Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey
Previous Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart
Brexit votes
Only four opposed the ‘May Deal’, Mrs May’s ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ with the EU. They are Mark Harper, Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Dominic Raab. All four voted ‘No’ in the first two ‘Meaningful Votes’ held on 15th January and 12th March.
Nevertheless, all four caved in and voted for ‘Meaningful Vote 3′ on 29th March. (But then again, so did Jacob Rees-Mogg.)
The other six leadership candidates all voted ‘Aye’ in each MV. Out of the six, Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom are the only two who can also be regarded as Brexiteers. The other four are Remainers.
Brexit Strategy
So far as we can piece together, Jeremy Hunt’s big idea is to carry on with the Theresa May strategy of trying to get the House of Commons to accept some kind of withdrawal agreement. Michael Gove would ‘kick the can down the road’ by seeking yet another Article 50 extension for negotiations.
Esther McVey, Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson have all pledged to take the UK out of the EU on 31st October. All, especially Miss McVey (Mrs Philip Davies), appear keen on No Deal if necessary. She and Mr Raab have said they would call a halt to the current session of Parliament if the Commons starts to get silly.
That is a process known as ‘to prorogue’ Parliament. Some say it is so politically unacceptable it just won’t happen. The retort would be that Parliament trying to thwart the will of the people is undemocratic. Such a process would involve the Queen. Her Majesty is the only person who can actually prorogue Parliament. But HM acts on the advice of her ministers.
The Metro reports Mr Stewart said of Boris: ‘If he tried to force no deal through he wouldn’t be able to.’ But Boris doesn’t need to ‘force’ anything. If the new Prime Minister does nothing, brings forward no motions or ‘MV’s’, No Deal happens by default on All Hallows Eve. That is the law.
Mr Stewart and Matt Hancock have both ruled out leaving on WTO terms.
Launch platforms
At the launch platforms, Mr Hancock said: ‘I offer an emotionally-charged platform to improve lives that is rooted, rooted in objective fact.’ What did he possibly mean?
Esther McVey pledged to ‘sack’ every Remainer in the cabinet prior to the 31st October leaving date if she became Prime Minister.
Sajid Javid pitched himself implausibly as an outsider, Mr Gove showed up as the sensible one, and Dominic Raab tried to come across as the tough guy who will get it done.
Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson both stressed unity and both linked delivering Brexit and defeating Jeremy Corbyn.
Life and abortion
Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP.
Brexit is the big issue, but not the only one. The media have observed that Jeremy Hunt is pro-life. Indeed he voted to reduce the time limit on abortion to 12 weeks in 2008. Apparently he has promised Amber Rudd he would not be a pro-life premier. That was necessary to garner her support, so it seems. Why do women such as this Amber, Anna Soubry, Diana Johnson (author of the ‘decriminalise abortion completely’ bill), Jess Phillips etc so hate other women they want to bereave them of their children?
On this abortion issue Mr Hunt sadly failed to oppose Diana Johnson’s Abortion Bill. The House has voted for it twice, on 13th March 2017 & 23rd October 2018. The Bill went to the back of the private member’s bill queue. It is now in the long grass. The two votes were only symbolic. Nevertheless, one should expect a pro-life MP to oppose such an evil all the way. Of the ten leadership candidates, only Andrea Leadsom and Rory Stewart did that, in the 2018 vote.
At the other end of life, a bill to legalise euthanasia (‘doctor-assisted dying’) came along in September 2015. Those voting ‘No’ to it were Gove, Harper, Hunt, Johnson and Leadsom. The others abstained. Esther McVey was not an MP between 2015 and 2017.
Leadership Candidates on Sodomy
As Mayor of London, Boris Johnson showed himself relentless pro-gay. He supported every pro-sodomy initiative there was, as well as London ‘gay pride’. He opposed pro-marriage initiatives, such as the ex-gay bus adverts proposed by Core Issues Trust in 2012 as the BBC reports here.
Previously, he was saying ‘If gay marriage was OK – and I was uncertain on the issue – then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog.’ In the year 2000 he was accusing ‘left-wing local authorities’ of going about ‘to waste taxpayers’ money on idiotic and irrelevant homosexual instruction.’ It is easy to see why some say he blows with the wind.
‘No Outsiders’
Only Esther McVey voted against same-sex ‘marriage’ in 2013 and Andrea Leadsom abstained. All the others voted for it (except Boris, who was Mayor of London). Nevertheless, Michael Gove, Mark Harper and Jeremy Hunt at least voted in December 2009 to exempt churches from the requirement to hire gays and lesbians.
Recently, Esther McVey has spoken up for the parents in the No Outsiders row, setting herself at odds with Government policy and Education Secretary Damian Hinds, who has declared war on parents. To see more, this brilliant article on Spiked Online sets out the issue very clearly indeed.
Just to show what we are up against, the Guardian reports comments by Angela Rayner MP. She is Labour’s shadow education secretary. She said Miss McVey’s arguments in favour of letting parents take young children out of LGBT education were “illegal, immoral and deeply dangerous”. Dangerous to whom or to what? To activists’ plans and the LGBT agenda. But Ms Rayner was not finished:
“Esther McVey is not fit to be a candidate for PM and not fit to be an MP,” she said. Wow.
Crime and morality
In recent days, the media have been awash with stories of the candidates taking narcotics when they were younger.
All this must be a sign of the times. It is also a sign of the times that Mr Johnson’s philandering is greeted by shrugs. His first marriage ended because of an affair with the childhood friend who would become his second wife. Now, after 25 years, and three more (documented) affairs, one of which led to Boris fathering an illegitimate child, his second wife has filed for divorce. It is all very modern and amicable.
Meanwhile, says the Daily Express, Boris is shacked up with his girlfriend, one Carrie Symonds.
Peace in the world
Permanent Under-Secretary Simon McDonald welcomes Boris Johnson to the Foreign Office.
It took just three days for Boris to switch from a friendly pro-Russian stance to the Foreign Office line when he became Foreign Secretary in July 2016.
The current occupant, Jeremy Hunt, has continued the anti-Russian rhetoric. Only last month he described the state-owned Russian television channel RT as a ‘weapon of disinformation’. Well, RT may not have a lot complementary to say about the UK, or the US for that matter. Nevertheless, despite that, on world affairs this author finds RT to be more trustworthy than the BBC.
Jeremy Hunt has spoken up for persecuted Christians overseas. He initiated the report by the Bishop of Truro, which we shall cover in due course. However, when the Christians are in Syria, and being persecuted by the jihadists the UK sponsored who are now holed up in Idlib province, Mr Hunt wants the Syrian Government and their Russian allies to go easy on the terrorists who are oppressing them.
All except Rory Stewart (who abstained) and Boris (who was not in the House) voted for war against Syria in August 2013. By the grace of God, David Cameron lost that vote. On the more limited operation against Islamic State, all the leadership candidates except Esther McVey (not in the House) voted ‘Aye’ on 2nd December 2015. An amendment calling for peace and reconstruction in Syria was defeated by 179 votes on the same night before the main motion went through with a majority of 174. See the Hansard report.
Foreign aid
Two leadership candidates have floated the idea of reallocating the money the UK currently sends as foreign aid. Dominic Raab would redirect £500m to create an international wildlife fund. Esther McVey is more radical. She would halve the current £14bn aid budget, directing £4bn to schools and £3bn to the police.
The UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of our Gross Domestic Product on foreign aid is now written into our law. That means there is a scramble to dispose of the money as the end of each financial year approaches. Moreover, 38% of the aid budget goes straight to UN agencies.
The 0.7% target means the UK is second only to the United States in the sheer amount of money we spend on foreign aid. But their £25bn is a far smaller proportion of GPD than our £14bn. We are the only member of G7 to meet the 0.7% target, laid down by the UN. Aid is becoming seen as neo-colonial. The UK uses foreign aid too often to promote immorality abroad. It can also depress local commodity prices, causing local hardship. African nations like Ghana are now moving ‘beyond aid’ with a smarter approach to adding value to their raw materials. The days of foreign aid may be drawing to a close.
Latest Brexit News
HRH The Duke of York. Photo by Aaron McCracken/Harrisons
In the latest development in Parliament, Labour last night lost a motion which tried to grab control of proceedings on 25th June in order to bring in a Bill preventing a ‘No Deal’ Brexit on Halloween. The vote was 309 to 298. Seventeen Labour MPs abstained and ten voted against their leadership. Eleven Tory MPs abstained and ten voted with the Opposition. Thank God for his grace and mercy.
Meanwhile, further revelations have emerged from the memoirs of Paul-Henri Spaak about how the architect of the EU ignored public opinion. If you don’t know this name, you simply must click here for our article in which we ask if the EU was a Christian project or a Catholic plot. The answer may surprise you.
Finally, according to the Daily Express, the Duke of York is happy with Brexit. Asked by ITV news if UK entrepreneurs would succeed outside the EU he replied: ‘I see no reason why not. Businesses we see could be successful either inside a large internal market, or operating in an even larger external market.’ He stressed the ‘even larger’.
Prince Andrew made the comments during an event organised by Pitch@Palace, a business-oriented charity the Duke of York founded to support entrepreneurs and help them expand their projects.
Who to pray for?
Who should we pray for to be elected? The one who terrifies the EU is Dominic Raab. When we factor in their stance on other issues, the strongest pro-family Brexiteer is Esther McVey. Frankly, the two most likely to be sent by the MPs for decision among Tory Party members are Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. Mr Hunt is the Remainers’ favourite, while Mr Johnson is being cast as the only one who can save the Party.
Of the two, Boris is the most likely to win the Conservative activists’ votes and become Prime Minister. But all is in the hand of the Lord:
1Sam 2:7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
Dan 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Lord, grant repentance
When it becomes clearer who will be elected,‘who to pray for’ will take on a different meaning. It will no longer be ‘which of the leadership candidates’ do we petition the Lord to favour, but ‘Lord, grant repentance.’ We’ll be praying for the most likely candidate and then the successful one to walk in God’s ways and to be as hard as nails on a Halloween Brexit. Another thing a new prime minister can and should do is sack Damian Hinds and appoint Esther McVey as Education Secretary. The Bible says keeping God’s commandments brings a blessing on the nation and on the one who leads:
Deut 11:22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; … 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you:
Above all, pray for all these candidates, indeed for your own MP, to acknowledge God and learn righteousness as the Almighty sees it:
Prov 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
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In the Christian Voice May Newsletter we predicted the UK would not avoid the elections to the European Parliament. David Liddington has just confirmed exactly that. And that’s not all. Secure your copy now by joining Christian Voice.
The Christian Voice May Newsletter has just been published. Join Christian Voice right now by clicking here to secure your copy by Saturday morning (11th May). (If your form arrives after 3pm Friday 10th May or over the weekend we’ll post to you on Monday 13th.)
Brexit
We lead on Brexit, where madness has taken hold of our politicians. We went to press last Thursday 2nd May, before the results of the English local council elections were in.
As we know, a week is a long time in politics. Right now, even a few days is a long time. Nevertheless, one prediction we made has already come true.
We said: ‘The Foreign Secretary has said it is an ‘absolute priority’ for the government to leave the EU by 23rd May to avoid having to take part in European elections. But it is not going to happen.’
Just two days ago, as our newsletter was being printed, Mrs May’s deputy David Liddington MP confirmed the Government had run out of time to get any kind of deal through. He said: ‘The UK will have to hold European elections’.
We also predict the Conservatives’ talks with Labour will fail. We say: ‘And make no mistake about the function of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. It is not there to bail out the Government. It is there to oppose, to call to account, to be elected into government itself. Above all, Jeremy Corbyn does not want his fingerprints on Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement, thank you very much.’
Divorce
We report on how the Government has ignored 80% of respondents to its divorce consultation, who wanted the concept of fault to stay. It will go, along with any ability to contest a divorce. But we point out that the ‘substantive issues’ of property and residence of children is already decided on a no-fault’ basis.
We also explain the differences in Scottish divorce law from that in England & Wales and Northern Ireland. Furthermore, we observe that people have a desire for justice. Above all, it’s the divorce itself, not the acrimony, as the Government have been persuaded by the divorce industry, which does the damage to the prospects for children.
Finally, we show how the Government proposals will reduce marriage to a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Every marriage will last until one party says, ‘You’re dumped’.
As with the Brexit issue, we give relevant scripture references, prayer points and show how to write to your MP.
Relationships and Sex Education
The Government also ignored respondents to their Relationships and Sex Education consultation. Their new guidelines have now been passed by both houses of Parliament. They come into force in September 2020. We acknowledge the single good point about them: Schools ‘must’ consult parents.
However, the Government determination for schools to promote deviant lifestyles trump rights of parents. These were set out in the House of Lords by Lord Mackay of Clashfern. You will want to read his masterly analysis. You’ll also be encouraged that there are men like Rev Dr William, Lord McCrea, in Parliament, standing up and quoting scripture.
But we are clear that parents now have only the nuclear option of removing their children if schools simply will not listen to them. Moreover, we cannot leave it all to the Muslims. So this author will gladly come to your church to set out the issues from a scriptural perspective and encourage pastors and parents to ‘fight for your sons and daughters.’
Christians under fire
We have articles on how Christians are being sacked for expressing orthodox views both here and the other side of the world. A rugby player and a teaching assistant are dismissed. Meanwhile, the gay lobby have been flexing their muscles over Evan Robert’s chapel in Wales. You’ll want to read about that. On the bright side, you’ll be encouraged by the force for Christ that is the group of Pacific Islands.
Beyond Foreign Aid
The faith of the President of Ghana will also encourage you, as we urge you to pray into Ghana’s godly attempts to break free of foreign aid. God honours those who honour him, and Ghana has refused to allow the UK to decide its policy on homosexuality.
Indeed, David Cameron’s threats to make aid dependent on pro-sodomy policies surely acted as a spur to the Ghanaians to do without it and move ‘beyond aid’. But will the West allow Africans to add to value to raw materials like aluminium and iron ore and cocoa and coffee beans?
Major abortion conference
However, the other side of Africa feminists and pro-abortionists are gearing up for a major conference in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It’s 25 years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. Now United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) are convening the Nairobi Summit.
In the Newsletter, we commend the UNFPA for its efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. However, we take serious issue with its ‘women’s empowerment’ agenda. It sounds good, but it’s based on lies and aims to divide women from men. Reality check: most of us live in families! The other emphasis is on ‘reproductive rights’. Yes, that’s code for abortion on demand. Much prayer will be needed, and we give scripture references and action targets here as well.
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Today, MP’s embark on another set of ‘Indicative Votes’. They will start debating at 3.30 pm and vote at around 8.00 pm. The result will be known at 9.30pm. Here is what they will be voting on.
Staying in the EU’s Customs Union is favourite to win. Its proposer is Ken Clarke MP.
Yet Mr Clarke, and all the other Conservative MPs who voted for it last Wednesday, stood for Parliament on the Conservative 2017 Manifesto. which said on page 36: ‘As we leave the European Union, we will no longer be members of the single market or customs union … ‘ Even Labour’s 2017 Manifesto only wanted, ‘the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union’ on page 24, not the actuality of either.
Leavers on last Friday’s walk.
A second referendum is also gaining ground. Its proposers in one form are Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson and in another, Labour’s Graham Jones and Tory Dominic Grieve, who lost a confidence vote in his constituency last Friday.
And yet the 2017 Labour Manifesto said ‘Labour accepts the referendum result.’ (Page 24.) The Conservatives said: ‘Following the historic referendum on 23rd June 2016, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.’ (Page 36).
The Bible says:
Psalm 15:1 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. … 4b He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
Eccl 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Matt 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
So pray the MPs will keep their word, reject the Customs Union and the Second Referendum. Pray the Government stay firm and pray the UK will leave the Revived Roman Empire on 12th April 2019.
Meanwhile:
Rt Hon Liz Truss MP
The Daily Express reports Eurocrats salivating over the ‘Customs Union’ prospect and hoping they can corner the UK inot the status of a vassal state post-Brexit.
In the Guardian, Cabinet Minister Liz Truss makes the obvious point that being part of the EU Customs Union would rob the UK of any power over our future trade policy. She will support No Deal, she says.
Martin Howe says ‘It is far better to risk extending Article 50 than to accept May’s bad deal.’
The Guardian reports Brexit supporters blocked roads around Westminster that day.
While Conservative activists – the ones the Party needs to walk the streets and bring their vote out on 2nd May in the local elections, let alone if Euro elections happen on 23rd May, are overwhelmingly pro- ‘No Deal’.
Prime Minister Theresa May will tell 200 MPs opposed to No DEal to vote for Her Deal.
Prime Minister Theresa May will tell 200 MPs opposed to No DEal to vote for Her Deal.
A group of over 200 MPs opposed to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal are to meet the Prime Minister today.
Sky news reports: ‘The politicians are from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, SNP and Plaid Cymru parties and the letter was written by Meriden MP Caroline Spelman (Conservative) and Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey (Labour).’
How it will go
This is what will happen at the meeting:
Mrs May will make sure everyone has a drink of some sort. That is what she did yesterday, says The Sun, when she entertained Conservative and DUP MPs including Boris Johnson and Nigel Dodds, as stage one of her charm offensive. Not that any changed their minds, but hey, one does what one can. Then after a warm welcome, the Prime Minister will ask the 200 MPs about their concerns.
They will say manufacturing in the UK, especially in the Midlands, will grind to a halt if there is no deal. Thousands of their constituents will lose their jobs. There will be no exports to the EU any more, and no drugs or nurses for the NHS. It will be like jumping off a cliff-edge. Or being involved in a car-crash. Aircraft will fall out of the sky, some may assert. Others will report the Chicken Licken Think Tank has said the sky itself will fall down.
Mrs May will immediately express herself extremely sympathetic to the MPs. She will say she understands their concerns. The Prime Minister will add she fully shares their horror of leaving the EU without a deal. It really must not happen, despite Government planning for it just in case. ‘No Deal’ would be unthinkable, she will say, nodding her head earnestly.
What deal do the 200 MPs prefer?
That is why, she will continue brightly, the assembled MPs must vote for her deal. The only way to safeguard against No Deal is May Deal, she will tell them. A vote against May Deal would be ‘uncharted territory’ at best.
At that moment, many of the 200 MPs will say they oppose May Deal. ‘Oh I see’, the Prime Minister will respond, appearing shocked, ‘Then what deal do you prefer?’ At this, some will say they would like a Canada Deal, others will propose a Norway Deal. Some will say ‘the People’ should decide in a #PeoplesVote. Still others will venture that actually, to be honest, they want the UK to Remain in the EU.
‘Oh dear,’ Mrs May will say, ‘But if you cannot even agree amongst yourselves what deal you prefer, and some of you even want the ‘no deal’ of remaining, and you all know there is no time for a second referendum even if were democratic to hold one which it isn’t, then No Deal is the only outcome left standing.
It has to be May Deal
‘But we don’t want No Deal’, they will wail. ‘Our constituents’ jobs, no more exports, drugs, nurses, aeroplanes and cars crash, sky falls down, etc.’
‘That is why’, Mrs May will repeat, ‘You must all vote for my deal. It’s the only way to prevent No Deal.’
After more drinks and more exchanges, the 200 MPs will leave. They will leave reflecting on a lesson learned. It would have been much more clever to hold a series of indicative votes among themselves before they went in so they could present Mrs May with one collective preferred option. But it’s too late now. In fact, it really is too late now.
As for Mrs May, she will sit down and plan for episode three of her charm offensive. That is tomorrow’s invitation to yet more Conservative MPs for drinks and a promotional chat for May Deal. This time, of course, because so many will be in favour of No Deal, she will probably major on ‘No Brexit at all’ as the alternative to May Deal. But that would mean Mrs May delaying Article 50 or pulling it altogether. They all know she won’t do either. But it was a free drink at No 10. And that can’t be bad.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay denying there have been meetings between UK and EU officials on extending Article 50.
Presidents Trump & Putin at the news conference following their historic summit.
Presidents Trump & Putin at the news conference following their historic summit. Russian election meddling was blandly assumed by one media hack.
So President Donald Trump mixed up his ‘would’ and his ‘wouldn’t’? Apparently it happened in the press conference after his summit meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
No collusion, but hacking
According to the BBC, Mr Trump insisted there was ‘no collusion at all’ between his campaign and Russia. Mr Putin laughed at the suggestion. The American press has been full of charges of this alleged ‘collusion’. However, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller has not yet alleged any.
The more serious charge is that of ‘election meddling’. That appears to mean attempts, successful or not, to hack into Democratic Party emails. That’s assuming the emails were not leaked by an insider.
The BBC reports twelve Russian nationals have been indicted by Mueller. The DNC leak showed that top Democrats preferred Mrs Clinton for the presidential nomination. In fact, they constantly worked against her left-wing challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders.
Election meddling
Wikileaks published the emails with ‘eighteen revelations’. Julian Assange has denied any Russians were behind what he described as leaks. But such is the feverish level of anti-Russian hysteria in US corridors, his denial simply would not do.
A reporter asked Mr Trump after the summit to condemn Russia and Mr Putin on election meddling. It was not even ‘alleged’, it was taken as fact. In reply, Mr Trump said his intelligence officials – including Director of Intelligence Dan Coats – have told him ‘they think it’s Russia’. Mr Putin, he continued, just told him it was not Russia.
‘I don’t see any reason why it would be,’ Mr Trump concluded, leaning toward the Russian professions of innocence over the apparent conclusions of his own officials.
All hell broke loose
As Mr Trump was flying home from Helsinki, all hell was breaking loose among the US elite.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a ‘shameful performance’ that was ‘thoughtless, dangerous and weak’. John Brennan, director of the CIA under Barack Obama, not given to understatement, said Mr Trump was guilty of treason.
On the Republican side, political consultant and Jeb Bush advisor Mike Murphy called it a ‘dark day’, after tweeting a string of invective. Former 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain said it was ‘one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory’.
‘The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate,’ said the Arizona Republican senator. ‘But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.’
Who are the critics?
Why are Mr Trump’s critics so quick to condemn Russia and President Putin? Why do they not want peace and some measure of tranquility which would allow normal people to trade and do business? Well, Senator McCain is chair of the Armed Services Committee. Senator Schumer, 66, has never had a job outside politics. The Intercept reports he raises millions of dollars for the Democrats from the finance industry. Moreover, that sector is heavily involved in armaments companies.
Mr Schumer voted for the Iraq war, taking at face value the tissue of lies about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction which were peddled by the same ‘Intelligence Community’ that now accuses Russia of election meddling. He warned of Iraq’s imaginary yet ‘vigorous pursuit of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons’. Like John McCain, he is a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations. Russia is a thorn in the side of the CFR’s globalism. And its president also opposes the advance of sodomy, a liberal sacred cow. That’s unforgivable to someone like Schumer.
Armaments companies’ funding
OpenSecrets.org reveals another Trump critic, Republican Congressman Michael Turner, received $161,000 from defense companies for his 2016 re-election campaign. He also serves on the Arms Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee.
On top of that, he is the liaison to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and has served as its president. ‘Russia absolutely meddled in our election,’ said the prominent warmonger.
Newt Gingrich is another top Republican who sits on the CFR. He called Mr Trump’s statements on intelligence agencies ‘the most serious mistake of his presidency’. Mr Gingrich is also a member of the secretive Bilderberg Group and the disreputable occultist Bohemian Grove.
In the media, the Drudge Report had a headline blaring that ‘Putin dominates’ the summit. Such an approach assumes a zero-sum game where there must be a ‘winner’ and a ‘loser’. On Fox News cable networks, normally pro-Trump, Neil Cavuto called the president’s performance ‘disgraceful’ and said it ‘sets us back a lot’. Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts opined ‘There is a growing consensus across the land tonight … that the president threw the United States under the bus.’
Barrage of criticism
In the face of this barrage of criticism, Mr Trump could easily have stood firm, remembered the intelligence community’s past failings and observed that they haven’t come up with anything stronger than alleged attempts to discredit Mrs Clinton. He could have said she herself did the best job in that direction.
Instead, says the BBC, Mr Trump said he had reviewed the transcript and ‘realised’ he needed to clarify. ‘In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word “would” instead of “wouldn’t”,’ he said. ‘The sentence should have been: “I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t’ or why it wouldn’t be Russia”. Sort of a double negative.’
The US president added: ‘I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.’
US meddling
Speaking of ‘a lot of people out there’, Mr Trump could also have observed that the US has a long history of interfering in other countries and their elections.
A Channel4 ‘factcheck’ says: ‘The west – and particularly the US – have a long history of rigging polls, supporting military coups, channeling funds and spreading political propaganda in other countries.’
Professor Dov Levin is from the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University. He reckons ‘60 different independent countries have been the targets’ of post-war US interventions.
Channel4 goes on: ‘According to Levin’s research, those countries where secret tactics have been deployed by the US include: Guatemala, Brazil, El Salvador, Haiti, Panama, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, South Vietnam and Japan.
‘For Russia, the list of covert interventions includes: France, Denmark, Italy, Greece, West Germany, Japan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Congo, Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, and the US.’
US meddled in Kenya
This author had personal knowledge of US meddling in Kenya’s constitution referendum in 2010. Then Ambassador Michael Ranneberger worked with EU counterparts to secure a vote to adopt a South African-style constitution. In addition to its liberalism, it cemented the role of Sharia courts in the country. Even today, his two immediate predecessors, Mark Bellamy and Johnnie Carson, argue openly for more intervention by the US and ‘external partners’ in Kenya in particular and African nations in general.
On top of that, there is much recent history of Western governments providing funding for NGOs dedicated to overturning Christian morality in African nations. Legal access to abortion, the adoption of gay rights and feminist empowerment are the three favourites of Western governments. Naturally, they are assisted by a plethora of philanthropic -so to speak – western funders, led by George Soros and his Open Society Institute and OS Foundations.
The UK Foreign Office, one has to say, almost exists to interfere in the affairs of foreign nations.
The real election meddling story
Which leads us to the real meddling story hiding away behind all the anti-Russian rhetoric. From June 2016, a British ex-intelligence office, Christopher Steele, supplied the US Democratic Party with gossip on Donald Trump’s business dealings in Russia. Only when Donald Trump was elected in November of that year did the Democrats stop paying Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, for information through the intermediary Fusion GPS.
But Christian Voice discovered that Steele linked up with MI6 officers during the time he was working on the dossier memos he drip-fed to the Democrats. Not only that, but his consultant at Orbis was MI6 man Pablo Miller. Miller was Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal’s handler in Salisbury. A US expert in Russia and its intelligence services has said there is no doubt the Trump dosser was not written by Steele but by a Russian intelligence officer. And with which Russian intelligence officer was Christopher Steele in touch through his MI6 pal Miller? Step forward Sergei Skripal.
Clearly, President Trump is wary of vested interests at home. That explains his partial backtrack here and his earlier two half-hearted missile strikes against Syria. He had to be seen to be doing something, but he tried to keep it as inoffensive, particularly to the Russians, as possible. He cannot always rein in his State Department and the Pentagon. Nevertheless, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and appointing at least one pro-life Supreme Court judge (the jury is out on the next one) have been matters of principle.
But his meeting with Kim Jong-Un, his advice to Mrs May on the EU – best not walk away – and his attempt at a reset with Russia all speak of a business man. For the Donald, above all, doing a deal is what motivates him. There are times like 1939 and over the Falklands when a nation has to stand up to an aggressor. But in ordinary times, doing deals, trading, living in peace, is better than daggers drawn. (Except to the armaments industry of course.)
Later, Mr Trump tweeted: ‘So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!’
He added: ‘Some people HATE the fact that I got along well with President Putin of Russia. They would rather go to war than see this. It’s called Trump Derangement Syndrome!’
Keep praying for peace.
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What does this Trump / Kim handshake mean for the Christians of North Korea?
What does this Trump / Kim handshake mean for the Christians of North Korea?
What does the Trump / Kim Summit mean for North Korea’s Christians?
Firstly, we thank God the summit has happened. It has advanced peace and lessened the prospect of war. Naturally, the mainstream media are asking who ‘won’ or who ‘gained the most from it’?
It appears the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, to give North Korea its preferred name, will cease all nuclear tests. Meanwhile, the United States will stop what President Trump conceded are ‘provocative’ military exercises in South Korea. Neither of those undertakings appeared in the agreed communique, which is here.
That saw the DPRK committed to ‘work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’. But of course Kim Jung-Un does not want to end up like Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. So the undertaking does not amount to much. But asking who won and who lost is typical MSM playground talk. A more mature look is probably this one at RT.
Prov 22:10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
Peace and prosperity
Firstly, we need to thank God the two men met at all. In addition, after last week’s G7 debacle, we thank God they agreed a statement. When President Trump met the G7 leaders last week, they could not agree a form of words. That was at least partly because the President wants Russia readmitted to a new G8, says the Guardian. This time, there is a stated intention of the US and the DPRK ‘to establish new US-DPRK relations’. These were: ‘in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.’
In addition, ‘the United States and DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula’.
As we keep saying, peace and prosperity are good things. God’s heart is for people to live in peace.
Eccl 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
But make no mistake, there are those who will dislike such words. They will be working to undermine the declaration. As Iran is telling the North Koreans, you can never be sure which Donald Trump is going to show up. Above all, the US is constantly trying to defend and enhance its economic interests worldwide. That’s not a reprehensible thing. All countries do it. We just need to be aware it happens and pray the more for peace.
Kim-Moon summit paved the way
Much prayer has gone into this process already. The historic meeting in April between Kim Jong-un and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in paved the way for the Trump-Kim summit.
Christianheadlines says: ‘The meeting of the two leaders signalled a major change in North Korea’s relations with the rest of the world and sparked hope that conditions for North Korean citizens–and particularly Christians–can begin to improve.’
Following the meeting, Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in issued a joint statement: ‘There will be no mo
re war on the Korean peninsula, and a new age of peace has begun.’
Christians in South Korea, says the website, were fasting and praying for the Kim-Moon summit. ‘In Paju, a city just south of the North Korean border, pastors held an all-night vigil and South Korean Christian politicians also fasted and prayed.’
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Worst place to be a Christian
Open Doors says North Korea is simply the worst place in the world to be a Christian. Their website carries three terrible stories which illustrate the plight of North Korea’s Christian under Kim Jong-Un.
Open Doors’ Robert Kenna says: ‘It’s hard to fathom that people are not free to attend and be part of a church, or even express their religious beliefs to their children, out of fear they will say something to the wrong person.’
Christianheadlines quotes Ryan Morgan, an analyst with International Christian Concern Asia: ‘The regime still has up to 70,000 Christians locked away in virtual concentration camps.’ Mr Morgan added that a Christian believer and three generations of his or her family can still go to prison for life just for owning a Bible. Open Doors suggests over 50,000 Christians are imprisoned. Either way, it is outrageous and counter-productive. The Lord wants his people to live in peace, free from persecution. He sets his heart against a nation which oppresses. And just imagine the benefit to North Korea of all that liberated prayer:
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Prospects for North Korea’s Christians
Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song
So does all the diplomatic activity mean things are opening up for North Korea’s Christians? Is religious freedom high on the Trump agenda? Well, the three US nationals released by North Korea prior to the summit were all Christians. Professors Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, and Kim Sang Duk are evangelical academics who were working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, according to Christianity Today.
Meanwhile, Fox News reports on Christians praying for the Kim-Trump Summit on ‘the Korean peninsula and in Singapore, where the monumental summit is taking place.’
It went on to say: ‘On Sunday, several churches just miles away from the Trump-Kim meeting location on Santosa Island, prayed for the two world leaders before their one-on-one discussion in hopes of North Korean denuclearization and a possible peace treaty to end the Korean War.’
1Tim 2:2 (Pray) For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
‘Foley says, “From a Christian perspective there are four words we should be praying we hear at the summit. The four words we have been hearing are words like, ‘It’s a new day’. But as Christians, we should be praying that the words we hear are, ‘We need to repent, or we need to change.’”
‘Foley continues, “Those kinds of phrases like, ‘We need security guarantees’, or ‘Please give us money’, or ‘Let’s end this war’, all of those sound promising. But what we know as Christians is that unless there is a fundamental heart change on the part of the leaders of North Korea than all of the promises we hear at the summit will amount to nothing.”’
Foley says prayer should not be conditioned by a step-by-step approach. The idea that economic incentives are followed by nuclear disarmament and then followed by religious freedom is not biblical, he says.
Instead, ‘What’s known in the Scriptures and what North Korean believers follow is that in order for there to be change between nations, the heart of the leader of the nation must be transformed. Pray that God would radically step into this unusual situation and change the heart of North Korean leaders. Pray that they would seek God and find Him and begin to follow Him alone as Lord.’
Dan 4:37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
Open Doors prayer points
Open Doors estimates there are 300,000 Christians in North Korea. Chairman Kim could remember that Christians were at the forefront in opposing the Japanese occupation of the peninsular from 1910 to 1945.
President Trump and Kim Jong-un’s historic meeting on June 12 will be the first in a series of actions that sets Korea on a new course of religious freedom.
Kim will be convinced to release the more than 50,000-plus Christians unjustly held in detention centers and prison camps throughout the country.
Kim will allow for the creation of new churches where North Koreans can freely worship outside of the one “show church” that currently exists.
Existing believers within North Korea would take courage to lead a new revival of the Christian faith in North Korea.
We shall go even further. We urge that ‘big prayer’ for Kim to be convicted of how much more authority he would have under Christ Jesus, repent and believe in the saving power of the King of kings.
And that, in a way, is what Premier Radio says Christians in North Korea are praying for. It’s not regime change they want, because someone else would take Kim’s place. It’s a change of heart in the regime. We could also pray that US negotiators will keep raising this point. It’s one we can pray our UK MP’s press HM Government to raise with both North Korea and the US. And with South Korea, for that matter.
1Tim 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
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Ex-MI6 man Christopher Steele compiled the Trump Russian Dossier
Ex-MI6 man Christopher Steele compiled the Trump Russian Dossier
Revelations are popping out about links between poisoned double-agent Sergei Skripal and the Russian Dossier on Donald Trump compiled by a British spy.
D-Notice on editors
Colourful ex-ambassador Craig Murray reports on something called a ‘D-Notice’. More properly it’s a DSMA-Notice (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice). Nevertheless, people still refer to the old name, in use from the 1920s to the 1990s.
MI6 slapped this D-Notice on the mainstream media the minute Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury in early March this year. It prevented editors from investigating any links between Sergei Skripal and an intelligence outfit called ‘Orbis’. Orbis Business Intelligence was being run by ex-MI6 man Christopher Steele. More about Orbis and Steele below.
But why should there be any link between Mr Skripal and Orbis in the first place? Why should MI6 be worried enough to tell journalists not to look there? The missing piece in the puzzle is another MI6 operative. His name is Pablo Miller.
Pablo Miller
Pablo Miller recruited Sergei Skripal and worked for Christopher Steele at Orbis
According to Wikispooks, and it seems common knowledge, Pablo Miller recruited Sergei Skripal In the early 1990s. Miller was directly under Christopher Steele. Once relocated to the UK, in fact to not far from Salisbury, Miller became Sergei Skripal’s minder and friend.
Christopher Steele (born June 1964) was our top spy with diplomatic immunity in Moscow in the 1990s. His friend and business colleague Christopher Burrows worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1990 to 2009, according to his LinkedIn page.
The Daily Mail, in the link below, claims Mr Burrows was also actually working for MI6 during that time. It is not surprising the Scottish Daily Mail, archived here at Pressreader, describes their enterprises as ‘spies-for-hire firms’.
Orbis Business Intelligence
Chris Burrows, Mr Steele’s partner in Orbis and its successors.
In fact, its own website (worth a look) says: ‘Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd. was founded in 2009 by former British intelligence professionals’. It gives an address of ‘9-11 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0BD.’
According to Companies House, Steele and Burrows formed Orbis Business Intelligence Limited in July 2009, They set up Orbis Business International Limited in July 2010. Next up was Walsingham Partners Limited in April 2015. Finally, they formed Chawton Holdings Limited in June 2017
Reporting on the latter enterprise, International Business Times says: ‘Steele, 53, and Burrows, 59, are also directors of Walsingham Partners and Orbis Business Intelligence, the Belgravia-based consultancy the duo founded in London in 2009 and which made more than £1m in profits between 2015 and 2016.
‘Steele, who quit the UK’s Security Intelligence Service (Mi6) the same year he set up Orbis, was forced to go into hiding when he was outed as the dossier author in January and returned to work in March.’
Christopher Steele’s home in Farnham bristles with CCTV
‘Christopher Steele’s British-based company, Orbis Business Intelligence, uncovered corruption at international soccer’s governing body, leading to the resignation of top officials, including president Sepp Blatter.
‘It was this work which gave credence to his reporting on Trump’s entanglements in Russia, officials in the US have said.’
Referring to the Trump Dossier, according to inews, ‘Andrew Wordsworth, co-founder of another London intelligence firm, Raedas, cast doubt on Mr Steele’s findings, saying it wouldn’t make sense for people high up in the Russian security establishment to leak information to a former British spy. “Russians believe once you are an agent, you’re an agent forever,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
LinkedIn profile disappeared
But what if Sergei Skripal was able to draw on his Russian contacts? Could he find out, or invent, material on Donald Trump with a Russian angle? And having done so, he could easily pass it to Pablo Miller. And the latter had links to Orbis.
The Daily Telegraph ran a story about an un-named ‘security consultant’ in early March. It said he was linked to Sergei Skripal and to Orbis. MI6 briefed their tame journalists that was ‘wrong’. But it wasn’t. The security consultant was none other that Pablo Miller. Miller boasted of his connections to Orbis on his LinkedIn page.
So we have demonstrable links between Sergei Skripal, Pablo Miller and Christopher Steele up to March this year.
Supposing Sergei Skripal was hankering to return to Russia. Some papers have suggested he was already in touch with the Russian Embassy or that he written to Vladimir Putin. He would want to show himself as bringing something of value. What if that was everything he knew about Steele’s Trump Dossier?
In such a case, who would want to either get rid of him or teach him a lesson? In the murky world of the spooks, anything is possible. One cannot rule out Russia’s FSB completely. Sergei Skripal did betray Russia. A Russian court convicted him in 2006. Nevertheless, Russia allowed him to go to the UK in a spy-swap in 2010. There is a convention that when spies are swapped they are left in peace. Otherwise, the system will not work in future. And Sergei had been here unmolested and in no fear for eight years.
Did the Russian Dossier change the game?
So what changed? What if we look elsewhere, to the UK or to the US, for example? The New Yorker says an intermediary called Fusion GPS paid Orbis for Steele’s work. Fusion GPS was paid by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign. Barrister and commentator James O’Neill suggests elements of the US ‘Deep State’, the CIA and MI6 were all involved. We know MI6 was.
Any of them, he says, had a better motive than the Russian state for wanting to be rid of Sergei Skripal. Which makes Mrs May’s allegations of Russian culpability look rather shaky. But what if Mr Skripal were just a convenient pawn in a game of demonising Russia? Surely that is too dark and would require too many politicians and officials to be in on it. It would have to leak. Orbis appears the best lead.
Craig Murray concludes: ‘Steele, MI6 and the elements of the CIA which are out to get Trump, all would have a powerful motive to have the Skripal loose end tied.’
Look where they tell you not to
As Mr Murray says, the first rule of journalism is to look where they tell you not to look. And he is annoyed none of the supposed ‘journalists’ of the mainstream media is doing that in this case.
A Guardian article says: ‘The D-notice system is a peculiarly British arrangement’. It goes on to describe it as ‘a sort of not quite public yet not quite secret arrangement between government and media’. the D-Notice mechanism is there ‘in order to ensure that journalists do not endanger national security.’ But there is no national security angle in the Trump Dossier. It was just dirt-digging. When such a mechanism is used to spare ex-MI6 agents embarrassment the D-Notice becomes a devalued currency. (The more so if one really were used to shore up a pre-arranged Government political line to sour relations with Russia.)
Scripture says the Lord expects us all to deal with each other honestly:
Lev 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Points for Prayer
Pray the truth comes out in this matter. Remind the Lord of his word:
Proverbs 10:9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Luke 12:2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
And do pray for peace between the nations. This may be a millennial prophecy, but it shows that the Almighty regards peace between nations as a good thing:
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Also at Micah 4:3)
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