News and Views 17th July 

World Events

• Largest peacetime evacuation in modern UK history. A disastrous data-leak blunder by the UK military has led to 100,000 Afghans - as well as UK special forces, MI6 spies and military officers - being put 'at risk of death'. Amid great alarm and secrecy on an extraordinary scale within the Government, one of the biggest peacetime evacuations in modern UK history was launched: rescuing thousands of Afghans that the Taliban warlords now running Afghanistan might wish to kill or torture for their 'treachery' in supporting Britain during the UK's 20 years of operations there. By court order, news outlets were, until now, prevented from disclosing any details about the error – or even the existence of the injunction itself, leading to outrage among those kept in the dark for so long; the action being defended by former minister Grant Shapps, who insists the secrecy prevented Brits from being murdered.
• Thousands of Afghans brought to UK under secret programme. The projected cost of the evacuation was £7 billion, spent without the public’s knowledge or consent. So far some 16,000 (out of up to 42,000) have quietly been brought here (though ministers are telling Parliament the figure is under 7,000 people and has cost less than £1 billion). They have landed every couple of weeks or so, without fanfare, in plain white charter planes at Stansted, with many housed in military accommodation and hotels. It has been questioned why so many Afghans have been settled when only about 1,000 Afghans served with British forces. Indeed, it has been revealed that as few as one in 16 people identified in data breach had genuine claims for resettlement. One Afghan migrant brought as many as 22 family members to the UK. Read also here.
• Thousands of Afghans sue the Government over data breach. The Taliban has claimed that the leaked list of Afghans who helped Britain has been in its possession since 2022, and it has been hunting down those named ever since. Urged by lawyers, up to 100,000 people could now claim against the UK Government, arguing that their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights have been breached because they are in danger of reprisals from the Taliban. Barings, a Manchester-based law firm, already has 1,000 Afghan clients suing the Government over the data breach, and is adding 100 claims a day following the lifting of the super-injunction - each of whom could, it is claimed, pocket up to £250,000 each in compensation. There is fury over the fact that that some Afghans have been able to exploit the data leak and get to the UK, while genuine claimants remain stuck in Afghanistan. 

Society and Politics

• Islamophobia definition – the UK’s new blasphemy law. The public has only till Sunday (20th July) to respond to the Government’s proposed definition of ‘Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia’. Many see it as essentially an Islamophobia definition forged for Muslims by Muslims and therefore inherently divisive. The Christian Institute has warned that the proposed definition would undermine “healthy debate and democratic discussion”, and thus impede Christian apologists in exposing the errors of Islam.
• 'Nonsensical' and 'rigged'. Sir Trevor Phillips, who first popularised the term ‘Islamophobia’, says it’s “nonsensical” to introduce a Government-backed definition because there are plenty of existing laws protecting Muslims from hate crimes. Nick Timothy MP has called the government consultation “rigged”, warning it will impose backdoor blasphemy laws and silence legitimate criticism of Islam. Meanwhile, a cross-party group of 30 peers has warned that University staff and students will face disciplinary action if they breach Labour’s new Islamophobia definition. Christians can air their views by clicking here, going to the bottom of the page, and clicking Next.

Israel

• Church leaders condemn Israeli ‘settler’ violence in West Bank. The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem – two of the most senior church leaders in the Holy Land – along with local church leaders, have strongly condemned the attacks by radical ‘settlers’ in recent weeks on the predominantly Christian Palestinian West Bank town of Taybeh. They allege that Israeli authorities have facilitated the ongoing harassment and that Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls. King Abdullah II of Jordan also issued a statement condemning the ‘settler’ attacks. Elsewhere in the West Bank (Binyamin), even as Israel was at war with Iran, Jewish extremists clashed with IDF soldiers, allegedly physically assaulting them, vandalising military vehicles, and throwing rocks at army jeeps. Like most Israeli media, analysis by The Jerusalem Post suggests that “while the numbers can be debated – depending on who is doing the reporting and what is being reported – wider trends (of settler violence) are harder to deny.”
• Concept of widespread ‘settler violence’ a fabricated lie, claims Israel365 News. Orthodox Jewish media outlet Israel365 News is alone in suggesting that Arabs, not Jews, carried out the arson in question in Taybeh. They also claim that what had been reported as a violent clash between Jewish residents and Palestinians in the Binyamin region at an earlier point was, in fact, a carefully planned Arab terror ambush. A new report from the pro-settler group Regavim Movement claims that media accounts are based on inflated or distorted data. The report concludes that the concept of widespread “settler violence” is overwhelmingly a fabricated lie, repackaged as a propaganda tool in the broader struggle against Israel.

Antisemitism

• British Jews are ‘tolerated rather than respected’. A little-publicised Government-backed report has found that anti-Semitism has been normalised in middle-class Britain. The review warned that Jewish people in the UK were suffering increasing prejudice and that they felt “tolerated rather than being respected”. The report, commissioned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, found anti-Semitism to be pervasive in the NHS, at universities and in the arts. The inconsistent policing of hate crimes against Jews, including at pro-Palestine protests, was also highlighted. The review was co-authored by two non-Jews from opposite sides of the political spectrum – Lord Mann, the Government’s anti-Semitism adviser, and Dame Penny Mordaunt, the former defence secretary. The authors said they had been “stunned into silence” by the evidence gathered during six months of research, and recommended, among other things, that Judaism be recognised as an ethnicity. Read also here.

Church Issues

• Revival in Hyderabad, India. While Christians are being increasingly persecuted by radical Hindus in many parts of India, believers in the southern state of Telangana constitute an increasingly influential minority. In the capital city of Hyderabad exists India's largest church, with more than 300,000 members! Shuttle buses, auto rickshaws, and motorcycles ferry thousands of people, all trying to get to Calvary Temple two hours ahead of the first of five services that begin at 6 a.m. The main sanctuary holds 18,000 people, with as many being accommodated in adjacent halls. Pastor Satish Kumar preaches at all five services with the last one ending at 8 p.m. In addition, the church produces over 650 TV programs each month in 17 of the country's major languages for broadcast on national television.  Remarkably, the church adds some 3,000 new believers each month, and it’s on a mission to build 40 more megachurches in the next 10 years.
• Mass baptism at Bournemouth beach. Congregations from five churches across Bournemouth gathered amid a prolonged heatwave last Sunday to witness 92 people being baptised in the sea beside Boscombe Pier, attended by hundreds of people. Local pastor Peter Baker said the event was intended to “bring together Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and want to tell the world that”. Baker added that the Church in Bournemouth was “alive and kicking” and had experienced a “quiet revival” since the Covid pandemic. Similar events are planned in future for people who are “unashamed” of their faith.

Survive and Thrive

• East Anglican farmers banned from watering their crops. Farmers in East Anglia have been banned, without any prior notice, from watering their crops during Britain's heatwave until further notice – even though no other kinds of water usage in the area have been forbidden. While hosepipe bans were implemented across other parts of England, a week's notice was given for these. Local farmers have reacted in outrage, fearing the move poses a serious risk to food security – especially as East Anglia is one of the country's major farming regions. One farmer said he had expected the ban might only be applied four nights a week – so was shocked to discover irrigation had been completely forbidden – and coming without any warning.

Covid and the Vaccines

• Covid vaccines ‘the worst failures of the system in health.’ Dr Aseem Malhotra has become prominent for repeatedly claiming that the mRNA vaccines developed during the Covid pandemic did “more harm than good” - and he has long called for them to be suspended. More recently, Malhotra was appointed chief medical adviser to America’s ‘MAHA Institute’ (‘Make America Healthy Again’), making him perhaps the most powerful Briton in Trump’s administration.  In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Dr Malhotra reiterated; “We have seen the worst failures of the system in health with the rollout of the Covid vaccine, which has been absolutely catastrophic in terms of the harm it’s done.” Watch also here.
• Dr Malhotra receives award for excellence in public health communication. In a recent speech delivered for the Global Health Awards 2025, Malhotra stated that the immediate and pressing need “is for the medical establishment to admit they made a terrible mistake with the roll out and mass coercion of the covid vaccine especially for those at low risk, acknowledging a pandemic of the vaccine injured, many of them … unaware they are a ticking bomb of premature death from heart disease and cancer.  There is still time to intervene and mitigate from these harms.” Dr Malhotra received an award for excellence in public health communication. He believed that the fact that his speech was also well received is a sign that the more honest counter-narrative on the health crisis is gaining traction in powerful circles.