In the week the economy returned to pre-crisis level... Why I, as an ex Labour Minister, think Ed Balls MUST apologise for the mess he left us in, writes DIGBY JONES Daily Mail

Ed Balls

But last week’s economic figures weren’t some flash in the pan. Britain is back. A sustainable, deep, far-reaching recovery, not built on house price inflation, has arrived.

Inflation lower than Japan, unemployment lower than America, growth higher than Germany (and on Thursday it was even warmer in England than in Honolulu!). 

Take these facts:

·         The most productive car plant in Europe is the Nissan factory in Sunderland.

·         The Jaguar Land Rover plant in Liverpool has moved on to 24/7 working to cope with demand for its Range Rover Evoque from China, let alone everywhere else. They’re even building a new engine plant in Wolverhampton.

·         The Airbus put together in Toulouse has more British parts than French or German.

·         General Motors is actually closing a car plant in Bochum, Germany (the first such closure in that country since the Second World War) with 4,000 job losses, and expanding its plant at Ellesmere Port instead.

Construction, financial services, retail, manufacturing, creative industries, and the services sector are all going in the right direction. 

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Digby Jones.

Talks begin on devolution for whole of UK, The Scotsman

Carwyn Jones and David Cameron

High -level discussions about setting up a constitutional convention after the next election to create a devolution settlement for the whole of the United Kingdom have begun, a Cabinet minister confirmed yesterday.

Stephen Crabb, the newly appointed Conservative Welsh Secretary, who is regarded as one of the key government figures driving forward the devolution agenda, told Scotland on Sunday the prospect of a UK constitutional convention in the next parliament had been discussed.

Stephen Crabb

He said was one of the subjects aired in a meeting between David Cameron and the Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones, held at the Royal Welsh Show last week.

The move is significant with all three parties stating that they will extend powers to ­Holyrood and consider further devolution to Wales, as well 
as looking at how to devolve responsibilities to English ­regions.

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Commonwealth Games provide a 'tantalising glimpse' at a YES vote result in Scotland, Daily Express

It is a tantalising glimpse of what might become of the UK if there is a "yes" vote in September's independence referendum. Team GB would be no more.

It has proved irresistible to Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland and professional sports fan, who recently spoke about a "self-denying ordinance" under which he would avoid talking about independence during the Games.

He did so with a glint in his eye for he knew such an ordinance would be impossible to enforce.

At least three times over the past week the SNP leader has raised his self-denial and three times he has gone on to break it, for he is happiest when taking potshots at Westminster, while highlighting the fact that most of the countries in the Games achieved their "independence" from the UK was too good an opportunity to miss.

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The Danger of an Exaggerated End-Time Mentality

The Danger of an Exaggerated End-Time Mentality



On a regular basis, whenever there are reports of moral collapse in our country or of wars and crises worldwide, someone will say to me, "This is it! Jesus is about to return! Everything is coming down!"

Of course, according to one system of interpretation, that could be true and the Lord could return within the next few moments or years.

The problem I have is that I've heard Jesus is coming back any moment for more than 40 years.

Could it be that we have a wrong mentality about the end of the age? Could it be that we're missing something very important?

Bible Debate: Have we misread the Bible?

Bible Debate: Have we misread the Bible?

Steve Chalke is a leading and sometimes controversial voice in the evangelical Church. In a recent article for Premier Christianity magazine he has argued that we need to rethink the way we approach scripture and cease to think of it as 'inerrant' but as a progressive 'conversation' with God that continues today.

In a series of 4 discussions Andrew Wilson of New Frontiers engages with Chalke as they address issues concerning biblical infallibility, Old Testament morality, atonement and homosexuality:

Inside a church for Born Again Christians: Speaking to God in a Manchester multiplex, Independent News Paper, 26/07/2014

Anthony Delaney is a retired policeman. Now aged 49, he grew up on a council estate in a rough part of Manchester and joined the Police Cadets at 16, which was "all about outdoor pursuits and the pursuit of girls".

Today, Delaney is "above all" a Follower of Jesus: a self-proclaimed man of the people who has successfully utilised his gruff voice and engaging, measured manner to grow Manchester's Ivy Church – a community of Born Again Christians now with more than 1,000 members meeting on a weekly basis – to more than four times its size since he joined as leader five years ago. So significant today is the congregation, that events are now held several times a week at venues across the city, including Cineworld, a warehouse and even a pub.

 

When the last census was taken in 2011, the number of Christians across the UK had fallen to 33.2 million – that was 59 per cent of the usual resident population at the time and a 12 per cent decrease from 37.2 million, 10 years earlier. The most recent self-evaluating research from the Church of England, found in the Church Growth Research Programme published in 2007, showed a sharp decline in numbers, with just 2 per cent of attendees of CoE churches in the UK at last count being between the ages of 18 and 24 – with a whopping 47 per cent aged 65 and over. In this context, the rise of the Born Agains in this largely white suburb on the north bank of the River Mersey is all the more striking.

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Further reading

Find a reason to go to war with Germany': Shocking letter documents how King George V urged his foreign secretary to justify conflict two days before outbreak of First World War

King George V

  A letter documents a meeting between King George V and Edward Grey 

  The King urged his foreign secretary to find a reason for war with Germany 

  King George V, revealed what had taken place to Sir Cecil Graves in 1933

  The discovery sheds light on one decision behind the First World War

  Sir Edward’s great-great-nephew Adrian Graves uncovered the information

Sir Edward Grey

A secret letter which documents a private meeting between King George V urging his Foreign Secretary Edward Grey to go to war with Germany two days before the outbreak of the First World War has been unearthed.

The incredible note, sent during one of the most difficult times in British history has been made public for the first time, by Adrian Graves, Sir Edward’s great-great-nephew and grandson of Sir Cecil Graves.

King George V, who had stayed away from making public declarations about Europe as his hands were tied as a constitutional monarch, said it was ‘absolutely essential’ Britain go to war in order to prevent Germany from achieving ‘complete domination of this country’.

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Further reading