Britain’s Prime Minister
The recent General Election in the United Kingdom has given Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party a commanding majority in the House of Commons. The result holds out the prospect of ending the period of deadlock and uncertainty which has characterised the political scene since the European Union referendum in 2016. That period has witnessed a tide of acrimony and division which seems to have risen to great heights throughout the country and it appears likely that such bitterness and incivility has been greatly increased through the prevalence of social media. The generation in which we live is more and more characterised in their behaviour and attitudes by ungodliness, selfishness and disregard for others. The Apostle’s words concerning the godless in his day seem to have a special resonance in modern Britain, “hateful and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). The measure of restraint which was underpinned by the acknowledgement of Christianity in national life has been greatly reduced and every aspect of society is affected by it for evil.
The Prime Minister himself, in his own life, demonstrates how far the British people have departed from the morality and principles of the Word of God. He is the first Premier to live openly in 10 Downing Street in the sin of fornication with an unmarried woman he has taken to be his “partner”, having successively divorced two previous women to whom he had been married. He is widely reported to have had numerous adulterous affairs, having children born out of wedlock and fathering two children who were aborted by a journalist he was having an affair with. This disgraceful catalogue readily explains why it has been said of the Prime Minister that he draws inspiration from the ancient Romans and Greeks while he is repelled by the early Christians. It is not insignificant in this connection that the morality of the early Church was vastly superior to that of the pagan world around it. We fear our people are being set an evil example by those in positions of authority that will bring the same kind of divine retribution on our beloved nation that came upon the civilisation of imperial Rome, so admired by our Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson made his central policy pledge during the election campaign a promise to “get Brexit done”. As is to be expected with worldly politicians, he made his pledges without the least reference to the will of God and the need for His blessing in providence. Until Britain is brought to repent and return to the Lord we will sink further into the mire of depravity and godlessness, whatever our relations with the EU may be in future. We hope indeed that, in answer to the prayers of many of the godly over the years, Britain will exit the EU. But even more fundamentally, we long for such an extensive revival of true religion as would turn our rulers and our people back to the Word of God as the cornerstone of our national life.
AWM
House of Commons Prayers
Mr Kenny MacAskill, the former Holyrood Justice Secretary, who was elected to Westminster at the recent general election, has been quoted in the press as saying that the prayers said at the beginning of each House of Commons sitting are “very bizarre for a twenty-first century democracy and most especially in a multi-faith and multi-racial country”. He compared the Commons’ prayers, which are Christian, unfavourably with the Time for Reflection at Holyrood, which is open to “all faiths and none”. Writing in The Scotsman, he went on to say that “Westminster looks and sounds anachronistic in comparison”.
Sittings in both houses of Westminster have begun with Christian prayers since 1558. Currently prayers are read rather than extemporaneous, with those in the Lords being read by the leading bishop present, and those in the Commons by the Speaker’s Chaplain. Attendance is voluntary. The prayer generally used in the Commons is as follows: “Lord, the God of righteousness and truth, grant to our Queen and her government, to Members of Parliament and all in positions of responsibility, the guidance of your Spirit. May they never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals but, laying aside all private interests and prejudices, keep in mind their responsibility to seek to improve the condition of all mankind; so may your kingdom come and your name be hallowed. Amen.” The use of “your” when addressing the Most High is to be deplored, but the intention is to seek His guidance and blessing on the work of Parliament.
Those who criticise the existing prayers as “anachronistic” and “non-inclusive” are intent on the secularisation of the UK; they do not wish to acknowledge that God is sovereign and that we should seek His guidance and help in all that we do. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever” (Rom 11:36). FRD