The doctors group is responding to news that Kenya has banned Marie Stopes from carrying out terminations.

It’s after the organisation was accused of breaking the rules on advertising abortions.

CMF claims money from the Department for International Development has been given to Marie Stopes to provide sexual health care to parts of Africa but it is concerned that money has been used to promote abortion.
 
Philippa Taylor, Head of Public Policy at CMF told Premier’s News Hour the situation is currently unclear.

She said: “The whole issue is really murky.

“There’s a complete lack of transparency and accountability in this area.

“We don’t know the answer to that question which is one of the reasons we’re so concerned.”

The Department for International Development has told Premier there is no evidence that aid money has been misspent.

In a statement, it said: “No UK aid money is being used to fund illegal abortions in Kenya. The UK is currently developing a new programme, which will provide £36m to support the Government of Kenya to increase access to modern family planning services between 2019 and 2024.
 
“Family planning services will be delivered as part of a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services in-line with DFID policy and global best practice. In Kenya, any provision of safe abortion services will only be supported within the parameters…

The Songs of Praise presenter has been telling Premier of the ups and downs of her Christian journey.

As a teenager, she says her faith was rocked by the sudden death of her father who had cancer.

“I’d been very much involved in my church, I sang in services and my mum taught at Sunday school – church was very important in my childhood.

“Later on I felt very angry that my father had been taken away from me.

“It took a few years and various different things for me to rediscover [faith]. A lot of that has been down to having children to discover faith in a different way.”

After a glittering career in music, Jenkins has been on the presenting team of BBC’s Songs of Praise for the past year.

She says that too has been a boost to her faith.

“What I’m loving is when I’m out and meeting different people who worship in different ways – I find it so inspiring,” she said. “That’s been something that’s helped my own faith.”

Katherine Jenkins was speaking on Premier Drive. You can hear the full interview from 3pm on Tuesday 3rd December or listen again here.

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The Most Rev Justin Welby was speaking at an event at Lambeth Palace on Monday commemorating the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht and Kindertransport.

Mr Welby warned that anti-Semitism can lead to prejudice and discrimination against other religions.

He added: “We come today to remember and give thanks for the Kindertransport and we come to mourn the events of Kristallnacht, but we also come to say ‘let us be vigilant’.

“We know from that terrible period that if even one religious or ethnic group is targeted, it’s a threat to them all.”

Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, saw thousands of Jews subjected to terror and violence with buildings and synagogues destroyed and vandalised.

Later that month the British Government agreed to allow unaccompanied Jewish children to enter the country.

During the Kindertransport nearly 10,000 Jewish children fleeing central Europe were accepted into the UK.

The Lambeth Palace event was organised by the Council of Christians and Jews, which was founded by the Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz and Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple In 1942.

Mr Welby extended a hand of friendship to Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and all British Jews.

He added: “What I want to say to him and to all British Jews is that you are as British as anyone else.

“It shouldn’t need to be said but people have denied it in recent times.

“You’re not adopted British,…

Earlier this year, an Employment Tribunal upheld the decision by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to stop Richard Page sitting on panels deciding the future of children.

He had ran into trouble after comments on TV where he said: “My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adopted parents.”

It was claimed that his words brought the magistry into disrepute as they suggested a bias and prejudice against single sex adopters.

Mr Page has now been granted permission to take his case against the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Responding to the decision, he said: “I am amazed that it has taken so long to get this far. It is vital that we maintain the true independence and impartiality of the judiciary and that ordinary people like me are not excluded from it.”

Andrea Minichiello Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Mr Page said: “This is an important moment, shining a light on how justice is done in our country. Even the top judges in the land should not beyond proper scrutiny and we are glad to see Richard’s claim go forward.

“It was always disproportionate to remove a kind-hearted and long-serving public servant like Richard from his…