Methodist Response to Queens speech

Anthea Cox, Coordinating Secretary for Public Life and Social Justice, says;

"The Government wants to make education, housing and health care the centre of its work over the new Parliamentary session. Methodists care passionately about these issues and welcome the opportunity for debate.

The Methodist Church welcomes the introduction of the Climate Change Bill. Earlier this year we responded to this bill in its draft form. As a nation the UK must achieve real year-on-year cuts in carbon emissions. The urgency for action is underlined by a report published by the UN today stating that carbon emissions from industrialized countries are at a record high. We argue that long-term targets should be revised in the light of the findings published this year by the International Panel on Climate Change. In addition we must not use the purchasing of carbon credits overseas to buy out our own responsibility at home.

The Human Tissues and Embryos Bill will prompt further debate on abortion and the ethical and moral issues around early human life. The Methodist Church will seek to listen, learn and speak with great care on this sensitive issue.

We take a keen interest in the proposals to combat terrorism. The Methodist Church previously opposed extending the time for which people can be held before trial to 90 days but we recognise the need to consider how a balance can be achieved between providing adequate powers to address terrorism and ensuring the right to liberty and justice for all."

Source: http://www.methodistchurch.org.uk/opentogod.news/ 6/11/07

I don't agree with the proposal to make it compulsory for young people to stay on at school or in training until the age of 18, although I fully understand the reasons behind it and am always encouraging those who left school early without much in the way of qualifications to take every opportunity to study to get those qualifications later in their lives. Anything that is compulsory tends to evoke rebellion in many teenagers, whereas I have known several who thought school was a waste of time until they found a job. Then they realised the point of it all and are quite happy to do that same study now because they can see how much it will help their work.

The opposition, who say that the Government is tackling the problem in the wrong way because we should, rather, be dealing with the cause of unqualified school leavers, has a very good point. However, it is far from easy to find a way to prevent the perfectly natural rebellion against compulsory education which happens even now and will surely increase if this legislation goes through.