Our joint parish Holy Communion service service is at St Mary and All Saints' Church, Dunsfold at 10am. We hope you can be with us.If you can't be there in person you can join us remotely by clicking on the following link:<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09</a>
Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, has called on the UK government to impose a wealth tax on the super-rich to help tackle “spiralling inequality”, which he said was “deeply damaging to our collective morale and trust”.Williams, who was the most senior bishop in the Church of England from 2002 to 2012, on Thursday joined a growing group of moral leaders demanding a one-off tax on the richest 1% of the population to help close the “staggering” gap between the richest and poorest in society.“Spiraling inequality is a major issue in our society, and all the evidence suggests this is deeply damaging to our collective morale and trust,” Williams said. “A wealth tax of the kind we are backing recognises that vastly disproportionate rewards for a very small number of citizens will not make for a cohesive and just national community.”Williams told the super-rich they should not view paying back to wider society as a tax burden but as “an opportunity to build a stable, sustainable economy that works for everyone”.Government figures show the richest 1% of households in the UK each have at least £3.6m. At the other end of the scale, the poorest 10% of households have £15,400 or less, with almost half burdened with more debts than they have in assets, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics last month.It means the gap between rich and poor had widened to the largest in more than a decade even before the Covid pandemic struck. Williams joined other leaders in the Church Action for Tax Justice campaign group demanding that the government take urgent action to combat inequality by introducing an initial one-off wealth tax on the richest 1% of the UK population, and commit to reviewing the tax regime with the intention of introducing ongoing wealth taxes.A wealth tax on the top 1% could generate at least £70bn a year, according to research by Greenwich University. That would be equivalent to 8% of the current total tax take but would affect only about 250,000 households.The Wealth Tax Commission, set up in 2020 to consider the costs and benefits of imposing a wealth tax, recommended a one-off 1% tax on households with more than £1m. It said the tax would generate £260bn – more than enough to cover a year’s funding of the NHS and social care spending.Cat Jenkins, a manager at Church Action for Tax Justice, said: “As Christians, we believe we are called to highlight injustices in our society and to speak and act for change. The system, as it currently stands, unfairly favours the wealthy over those less well off. In times as hard as these, it’s even more crucial – and morally right – that the richest among us contribute a good measure towards the common good.”The campaign group, which works with churches and Christians of various denominations, said: “It’s time that the wealthiest in our country were asked to pay a good measure of tax, rather than asking the less wealthy to contribute ever greater proportions of their income to the common good.”A group of more than 100 members of the super-rich have repeatedly called on governments around the world to impose higher taxes on them. The Patriotic Millionaires movement, including the Disney heiress Abigail Disney, said the tax system was rigged in their favour and needed to be rewritten to make taxation fairer and restore trust in politics.“As millionaires, we know the current tax system is not fair,” they said in an open letter. “Most of us can say that while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years, we have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic – yet few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes.”Such taxes are being introduced in Argentina, Bolivia and Morocco to help pay for the pandemic recovery. In Norway, about 500,000 people pay an 0.85% charge on their assets above the value of about £125,000. The prospect of such a tax in the UK is rich people’s second biggest fear after the virus, according to Knight Frank’s wealth report.
Christ Church parish in Kyiv has been overwhelmed with support by messages from across the world. “Please pray for peace for Ukraine and Eastern and Central Europe,” said church warden Christina Laschenko-Stafiychuk.“I would like to thank to all our friends from the Anglican Communion who wrote and called us during last few days to express their support and solidarity in prayer. “There are too many to mention by name, but just to mention some congregations from across the UK, Brussels, and in Moscow. “Our thanks also to the Diocese in Europe and the Canterbury Cathedral Garden Congregation for their special prayers for a peaceful settlement in the last week.”The congregation of Christ Church meets in the German Lutheran Church in central Kyiv. Born out of a small prayer group, the parish moved to its current site in 2001. With the support of the Diocese in Europe, the congregation has relied on locum (or non-permanent) priests although is hoping for a more permanent solution.With a regular community of between 10 and 22 people, Christ Church draws its congregation from across the world and Ukraine.“We are still meeting regularly,” she said, despite embassies calling for foreign nationals to leave. “Ukrainians have no other options: this is our land, and we are read to stand for it – and for our identity as well.”Conflict in Ukraine began in 2014 following democracy protests in Kyiv. The later invasion by Russia, the seizure of Crimea, and the support of separatists in Eastern Ukraine have destabilised the region.It is now estimated tens of thousands of troops are massed on the border. “Of course, we are scared. But we are better prepared than eight years ago,” Christina said. Despite tensions, 18 people attended the morning service last Sunday, followed by a Bible study attended by eight congregants. The parish, which sits less than 20 minutes-walk from the famous Maidan Square, now continue to ask the global Anglican community to join with them in a prayer for peace.
