Alicia Edmund
Alicia joined the Evangelical Alliance as head of public policy in August 2021. Since then, she has worked on a range of issues from asylum resettlement, refugee integration, poverty relief and religious freedom in the UK and overseas.
Alicia leads the advocacy team’s parliament and Whitehall engagement and is focusing all legislative engagement this year on three core themes: dignity, freedom and justice.
Four groups negatively affected by the assisted dying bill
24 March 2025Ineffective scrutiny of the bill can be explained by two reasons. Firstly, the committee membership is skewed 18 to 5 in support of the bill, including from both the justice and health ministers attending the committee. Secondly, the bill sponsor along with the 17 other supportive MPs have dismissed the many concerns raised by palliative care, legal or health specialists as obstacles to individuals exercising personal autonomy. As a result, committee members in support have designed a broad…
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Assisted dying bill reaches a critical point in its parliamentary process
24 March 2025At the time of publishing this article update the vote was scheduled for Friday 25 April, five days on from Easter Sunday. However the bill sponsor, Ms Kim Leadbeater wrote to MPs before the Easter recess to say report stage will be delayed. On Friday 16 May the ‘report stage’ will take place, where MPs will debate the amendments made in committee as well as others proposed to change the bill. 'Third reading’ may follow on the same day or take place in June, when MPs will have a simple yes or…
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"It's important for people to have a good death," says Rachael Maskell MP
6 March 2025The assisted dying bill in Westminster has distracted the media, MPs and ministers’ attention away from the important and pressing question confronting our country at the moment, which is: “How should the government improve end of life and palliative care in the UK?” This interview with Rachael Maskell is an opportunity for listeners to hear how she is seeking to make palliative care a key talking point within Westminster.
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National Day of Prayer against assisted suicide
6 March 2025We are honoured to be participating in the National Day of Prayer against assisted suicide – a collaboration with Affinity, CARE, Christian Institute and Christian Medical Fellowship. In Westminster, Kim’s Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults Bill goes to a vote on 25 April and in Holyrood, Liam McArthur’s private members bill is set to complete Stage 1 by 23 May 2025. Both proposals have unintended consequences, particularly for those living in socially deprived communities, the elderly or…
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Kim Leadbeater replaces High Court judge with assisted dying review panels
25 February 2025Ahead of the second reading debate and vote last November, Kim Leadbeater argued that the inclusion of the high court judge as part of the assisted dying process meant her bill was the most robust and strongest safeguard in the world. As a result, many MPs were convinced and voted in support for the bill to continue on to committee stage for further scrutiny. Fast forward three months, and those robust safeguards have been replaced and has unsettled many MPs. According to The Independent up to…
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Education secretary outlines plans to restrict freedoms to home educate
12 February 2025Education policy is devolved in the UK meaning each parliament – Holyrood, Senedd, Stormont and Westminster each legislate, fund and implement policies affecting children from early years through to higher education. The Education Act 1996 states that it is the responsibility of parents to seek out full-time education from five years to the age of 16. Section 7 of the act states: “the parent of every child of compulsory school age to cause them to receive efficient full-time education that is…
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Home secretary announces a £5 million fund to support locally led grooming gangs inquiries
29 January 2025On Thursday 16 January, the home secretary Yvette Cooper gave a statement in the Commons setting out how the government will tackle crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Its starting point was to reiterate its commitment to implementing the Alexis Jay report. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA) report led by Professor Alexis Jay was first commissioned in 2016 and concluded in Autumn 2022. Following seven years examining safeguarding practice across different…
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God has been faithful in 2024, and the advocacy team are believing for more breakthroughs in 2025
17 December 20242024 has been a challenging year for the advocacy team. We have had to navigate an evolving policy agenda along with highly emotive issues, such as end of life care and proposals to legalise assisted dying – yet God has been our refuge and strength throughout. We have known His encouragement and seen His favour in the many unexpected meetings with senior government officials across policy issues. Doors that were firmly closed in 2023, in 2024 have been opened, and we have been presented with…
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Parliament set to debate and vote on legalising assisted dying in England and Wales
12 November 2024Kim Leadbeater, Labour MP for Spen Valley, (pictured above) presented the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in parliament for first reading on 16 October. In principle the bill seeks to “allow adults who are terminally ill the right to request and seek assistance to end their own life, subject to safeguards.” Late evening on Monday, 11 November, she published the bill where all 38 pages outline what these “safeguards” mean in reality for those nearing the end of their lives or with…
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New statutory duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace – here’s what you need to know
26 October 2024It is essential that we all read this briefing, and it is vital that trustees, senior leadership teams and those with management responsibilities collectively discern and take action appropriate to your ministry or work context. The legal change applies to churches, businesses and charities.
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Scotland’s abortion law review is well underway
20 September 2024Reacting to the US Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v Wade, resulting in making abortion laws a responsibility of individual states, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made a commitment to review abortion in Scotland. One outworking of this commitment was to introduce protection zones around abortion clinics and a nine-month review. From Tuesday, 24 September, the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 comes into effect, where to “influence the decision, prevent or…
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