politics & policy
We need more love for our politicians
David Burrowes
Date posted: 29 Nov 2024
Politics at least for the last eight years has been a tale of the unexpected, but what has sadly but not surprisingly been consistent has been the low view the public have for politicians.
In the league table of who you trust, politicians are always in the relegation zone, and this is matched by the growing disinterest and disdain for politics. But Christians, we have to do better and be distinctive in our view of politics, particularly when our politicians let us down.
Called to pray: In Parliament, in prison and in war
David Burrowes
Date posted: 17 Jul 2025
Have you been praying for the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently?
Actually maybe you have, given the Trump self-declared “12 day” war between Israel and Iran. I pray that by the time this article reaches you the conflict in the Middle East will have not escalated into a full-blown global war.
letter from America
‘I can’t avoid writing about Donald Trump...’
David Burrowes
Date posted: 20 Mar 2025
I know it’s tempting, but I can’t avoid writing about Donald Trump. Having been at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., the impact of Donald Trump and how Christians should respond looms large.
So to the US Capitol, where just a week after President Trump’s inauguration the talk of the town was of the first set of executive orders being fired off, calling a national emergency on the southern border to stop illegal migration and USAID freezing all aid programmes.
EU: Let’s leave
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Jun 2016
David Burrowes MP tells us why he will be voting for Britain to exit the European Union on 23 June
As a politician, my view about the EU referendum is a simple one of keeping a promise – to my constituents before the General Election.
Ofsted - 'not in my youth camp'
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
In a letter published in the Telegraph in January, Christian MP David Burrowes responds to the apparent intention of Ofsted to insist on the registration of Church youth groups.
'Last week Open Doors published their World Watch List of the persecution of Christians by country. Christians are all too aware of the increasing threats to religious freedom from militant Islam. So the Government's plan to tackle radicalisation is welcome. However, it is both ironic and wrong to catch Christian groups in a blanket requirement for registration and inspection of "out of school" education of more than 6 to 8 hours a week.
Burma: a church under pressure
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Nov 2014
On my flight to Burma in early October, I read a book about the extraordinary life of America’s first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson.
He survived starvation, imprisonment and torture, alongside watching friends and family die, in his calling to spread the gospel in Burma. One of the highlights of my visit was to find a Gideon Bible in a hotel in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State. It was a Burmese Bible which was originally translated 175 years ago by Judson.
Marriage: have your say
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Mar 2012
In March a consultation will be launched by the Government to redefine a word — marriage.
The point of the consultation is to find out how best to legislate for same-sex couples to marry. All Christians should be asking their MP by letter, email or in their advice surgery to take a step back and answer why it is necessary to redefine marriage.
Liberty’s roots
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Jan 2012
Book Review
FREEDOM AND ORDER
History, politics and the English Bible
Read review
A new type of government?
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Jul 2010
EN: Do you think coalition government carries the same authority in the country as a government by a single party which has clearly won the election?
DB: As far as the country is concerned, the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has the combined figure of 60% popular support. This provides more popular authority than any single party would realistically be able to achieve. More important is the authority gained from two parties working together which I feel matches the public desire for politicians to be less tribal, working together in the national interest as we face severe problems in the economy and society.
Would turkeys vote for Christmas?
David Burrowes
Date posted: 1 Dec 2009
‘Do turkeys vote for Christmas?’ A general election is not too far away and a letter in EN (August) asked provocatively whether we should vote for any political party if the result was Christians being marginalised and persecuted.
Well, as a Member of Parliament since 2005 and Parliamentary Chairman and co-founder of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, I was duly provoked to respond. Another time I would be pleased to answer specific concerns about party policy, and I am sure politicians from other parties will also have an opportunity in the run up to the general election to make their case if they want to in EN. For now, there is a question which goes deeper about why bother at all about party politics.
Christ's ambassadors, united by faith across nations
Despite not really liking Ferrero Rocher chocolates, I have spent a lot of time over the last five years with ambassadors – first as the former Prime Minister’s Deputy Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and now as I finish my time as Adviser to the Chair of the Article 18 Alliance of religious freedom envoys.
Ambassadors can be seen in public but rarely heard. Like the best referees or umpires, whom you don’t really notice until after the match that they have done a good job (although the old cricket umpire legend the late Dicky Bird was of course an exception). It is why the recent public criticism around former US Ambassador Peter Mandelson proved fatal to his career.