How to pray for Britain

Our country is now in a time of change politically. At the beginning of September the ongoing battle between Tony Blair and the chancellor Gordon Brown came to a head. The result is that Mr. Blair has promised to step down as Prime Minister within the next 12 months.

The expectation is that Gordon Brown will move into Number 10 Downing Street, but a number of prominent Labour Party voices have questioned whether he really is the man for the job. Hence, the country is entering a time of uncertainty. And, with the terrorist threat and British soldiers under pressure in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is not the best time for the Government to be in a state of flux.

But evidence of a country in confusion has been mounting anyway. The turmoil in the NHS is manifest. There is befuddlement over emigration with the announcement over the summer that the population now tops 60 million without anyone being quite sure how it happened. On one day recently, my daily newspaper told me that research has shown clearly that marriage is the best environment for bringing up children. The very next day, though the Government’s teenaged pregnancy strategy — based on sex education and the availability of contraceptives — has clearly failed, the newspaper reported that Government advisers were urging that condoms should be made freely available at sports halls, shops and swimming baths, to children as young as 12. It is bewildering. We obviously need to pray for Britain.