Boris Johnson and the Conservatives secured a comfortable majority in the Commons to take forward their Brexit agenda. 

Despite the focus on Brexit during the election, there were other important campaign promises by the parties, some of which, like abortion, were of special concern to Christians.

Leaders in both the Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as Christian campaign groups, had challenged pledges ahead of the election by both Labour and the Lib Dems to decriminalise abortion. 

While the Conservative Party did not make a similar promise, it has in the past moved forward after an election victory with changes to the law that were not outlined in its manifesto, such as happened with the introduction of same-sex marriage.

CARE said that with the election over, it wanted to see the government use its powers to protect life.

Among its calls are the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland to reverse the imposition of radical new abortion laws in the province. 

It also asks the government to protect free speech and religious liberty for all, and bring an end to foreign aid spending to promote abortion overseas. 

“Our work to be a voice for truth in the corridors of power goes on,” CARE said. 

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Six bodies were taken off the volcano in a four-hour recovery mission on Friday, with two further bodies still to be recovered.

“Today was all about returning them to their loved ones,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a media conference in Whakatane, the mainland coastal town where about 100 family and local community members prayed and sang together on Friday.

Deputy police commissioner Mike Clements said the retrieval plan was supported by the victims’ relatives, many of whom boarded a tour boat to attend a prayer session 1km off the island before the recovery mission started.

One of the two bodies to be recovered has previously been seen in the water, but rescuers will not return to the island on Saturday.

Police said they would look at the next possible steps, adding: “Planning will allow us to return to the island to conduct further land-based searches for the remaining deceased, as the environment on and around the island allows.”

A team of eight from the New Zealand Defence Force started a retrieval operation from the island from first light on Friday, despite ongoing warnings of further activity from the volcano.

The team, wearing protective suits and using breathing apparatus owing to the threat of toxic gases, recovered six bodies which were then transferred via helicopter to a navy ship, the HMNZS Wellington, and taken to…

Christian charity the Trussell Trust said that it has seen a surge in drop offs in food donations since Boris Johnson and the Conservatives won a landslide victory to stay inside Number 10 after winning with a 78 majority.

The charity is urging the government to take action to help those in poverty, Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust said: “The Conservative party manifesto for this election promised ‘we will do more to make universal credit work’. Just last week on the campaign trail, Boris Johnson said helping people with the cost of living is ‘an absolute crusade’ for him personally.

“It is crucial these words are acted on. We know what hasn’t been working as it should, and we know what needs to change. We must start putting money back into the pockets of people who most need support, by ending the five week wait for Universal Credit, ensuring benefit payments cover the cost of living and investing in local emergency support for people in crisis.

“It’s in our power as a country to end the need for food banks. But if we’re to get there, we need our new government to act. We’re ready to share evidence from our network of food banks across the UK, and we’d encourage any new MPs to speak to their local food bank about why people are being referred for emergency food. It’s not right that anyone should have to turn to…

Analysis by PoliMonitor, a political technology company, showed that candidates received abuse or insulting remarks in 16.5 per cent of mentions or replies about them on Twitter, that’s about one in six tweets.

The research analysed 139,564 tweets sent on November 11 2019 which either mentioned or replied to the 2,503 candidates standing in the 2019 General Election who are on Twitter.

Dr Cameron, who has retained her seat in East Kilbride, said last week one of her own campaign leaflets was scrawled with a swastika and posted through her door.

She also said she was subject to much abuse online following her vote against lifting Northern Ireland’s abortion ban in July, and even feared deselection over the issue.

In an interview with Premier about her win, she said: “It just goes to show how difficult politics has become. I was thinking about it last night during the result, how the abuse in politics must put people off entering into politics at all.

“And that’s such a bad thing for democracy. We need people from all different backgrounds and faiths to enter politics and to reflect the society that we have.”

The report comes after more than 50 MPs chose not to contest the General Election, with four female politicians citing issues of bullying as their reason for standing down.

PoliMonitor’s research showed that party…

Actors playing Mary and Joseph arrived by donkey in a bid to “birth” the Christmas message of “healing and hope” to the nation by bringing it to the doors of parliament.

Bringing peace and prayer to Parliament square today #GeneralElection2019 @WintershallPlay @rcwestminster@dioceseoflondon @BBCNews @SkyNewsBreak @KleeCharlotte @premierradio@biblesociety@_interfaith_@bishopangaelos pic.twitter.com/nDMljTiI52

— Wintershall Play (@WintershallPlay) December 13, 2019

Wintershall education officer Lucy Hall told Premier: “Christmas is about Mary and Joseph and their donkey looking for a safe place to give birth…to Jesus, the one who brings hope and healing to us all.

“We have humbly trudged with our donkey to the very heart of influence in our country; to knock on the doors of Parliament – to see if there is any room at the inn.”

The biblical drama company took time to pray for families and communities across the country, with the hope that the “joy of Jesus’ birth may echo in each and every home in this land.”

Wintershall have been producing open air shows depicting the life of Jesus since 1989.

The company’s next nativity performance runs from 18-20th December at the Wintershall estate.

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The party won 48 seats after securing 45 per cent of the vote, 8.1 per cent more than in the last general election in 2017, when it won 35 seats.

The Church of Scotland Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council said: “This general election has been one of the most challenging of modern times, with the UK poised on the brink of exiting from the EU. The political logjam of the last few years has not been so much a failure of parliament to move forward, but more of a reflection of the way in which the country has been divided almost down the middle over the issue of Brexit.

“Now that there is a clear path forward and an opportunity for the process of Brexit to begin, it will take many more months of negotiation and disentangling properly to “get Brexit done”.

“In the process, we believe that the polarisation of the country over the last few years will not be readily healed and many people throughout the UK will feel that their voice has not been heard. The patterns of voting we have seen across the country reflect the reality that many people feel let down and frustrated that a country of such wealth as ours still has poverty and many struggle to make ends meet. With the country so closely split, and the people of Scotland having voted so very differently, much remains unresolved.

“It will require considerable grace, generosity and…