成人快手

Good morning!

The weather forecast may be dodgy, but later this morning I鈥檒l be on the march, joining the annual Salford May Day Rally as it winds its way to its destination - Sacred Trinity Church, close to Manchester City Centre. Though the origins of May Day lie perhaps as far back as Roman times, in the late nineteenth century it was designated as International Workers Day. In 1978 it became a Bank Holiday in Britain.

It鈥檚 not a coincidence that many Trades Union branches were traditionally called chapels. Methodists, and other Free Churches, were a powerful force in the early days of the Union movement. Through their influence, working men and women had learned how to lead and manage religious meetings and activities; those same skills could now be applied to more secular purposes. Unions enabled labourers to organise, and when organised labour negotiated with employers, it did so holding a far stronger hand.

The Christian Gospels make it clear that Jesus didn鈥檛 come just to convince individuals of a set of theological premises. He came to establish a movement, an organised community; indeed St Matthew quotes him as telling his friend Peter that he is to be the rock on whom his Church will be built. Freedom of religion and belief, is an internationally recognised human right, albeit not one upheld everywhere. Yet it requires much more than simply my freedom to believe whatever I like, to change those beliefs, and to practice them privately. Most world faiths need their members to be able to meet with others, to worship together, and to organise themselves for service and witness. In 2024 Britain鈥檚 local churches, synagogues, mosques and temples may not be setting up Trades Unions, but that same local organisational capacity is founding food banks, opening up warm spaces in winter, tackling homelessness, running schools and colleges, and standing at the cutting edge of many environmental initiatives.

We live in an age of deep mistrust, especially of organisations, of whatever type they may be. Yet without organisation we lie at the mercy of the strong and the rich, unable to challenge unfettered power. I鈥檓 proud that Manchester, Salford and the towns that surround them, lay at the heart of founding many organisations: cooperative societies, Trades Unions, the Women鈥檚 Suffrage movement, Parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery and LGBT rights, to name but a few. And that people of faith have played a strong part in all of them. So today, I鈥檒l be marching through Salford alongside charity workers, union members, churchgoers and many others, not only to celebrate the achievements of history but to affirm the vital part our diverse organisations, including our faith communities, play in meeting the challenges of our city today.

Show less