The Winter 2026 edition of the Social Issues Bulletin is available

Changing Britain

The latest Social Issues Bulletin (Issue 60, Winter 2026), published by Affinity’s Social Issues Team,
explores some of the issues which are currently challenging and changing Britain.

Tim Dieppe’s article on immigration and integration (p. 3) considers the UK’s political parties’ approaches to immigration, as well as the lack of progress on this issue since the publication of the Casey Report in 2016. Tim encourages Christians to differentiate between the approaches which should be taken by national governments (i.e. maintaining borders in such a way that the country can care properly for its citizens) and individuals (i.e. sharing the gospel with and showing hospitality to strangers).

Lizzie Harewood’s article (p. 8) explores how the subject of Religious Education is impacted by changes in Britain. She considers the impact of immigration in bringing about a rapid demographic change in the UK – and how this change impacts the teaching of RE. Lizzie also explores the subject’s history and educators’ efforts to use it to equip students for living in a country as diverse as the UK. She concludes her article with four suggestions for how churches can engage with multicultural schools work.

Joanna Timm’s article (p. 16) reflects on events in New South Wales, Australia, where a 2024 law about sexual orientation/gender identity has severe consequences for gospel freedom. Joanna urges UK Christians to heed the warning from our Australian brothers and sisters, and to commit to speaking out against similar laws being implemented here in the UK.

Alongside these three articles, we also include Dr Calum MacKellar’s latest review of current bioethics issues, including the UK’s three-parent-baby experiment; a baby born from a record-breaking 30-year-old embryo in the USA; success, also in the USA, in creating new eggs from skin cell chromosomes; and the announcement from an Amsterdam-based company, uniQure, about new treatment for Huntington’s disease.

This issue concludes with Tim Dieppe’s reviews of two books addressing Christianity and the slave trade: Ian Shaw’s Christians and Slavery and Nigel Biggar’s Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt.

Download the Social Issues Bulletin, packed with analysis and practical implications – a must-read for Christians seeking to engage boldly yet wisely in today’s world.