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.
New Relationships and Sex Education guidance published ahead of the 2026 school term
23 July 2025Education is an important aspect of a child’s life and – when done well – can complement their spiritual formation within the home and wider society. Jesus cares deeply about the educational attainment of children and teenagers, but He cares far more that the younger generation would know Him as Lord and Everlasting Father. Core to Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels is that we would learn from Him (Matthew 11:29) and remain students at His feet (Luke 10:38-42). As parents, church leaders and…
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Keir Starmer’s first year in office as prime minister: a tale of two halves
2 July 2025It is my view that the prime minister needs to shift his political focus from international statesman, where he has been more comfortable leading on the global stage, to driving the government’s domestic agenda. Labour’s first year in government has been chaotic and confusing at times and needs greater clarity, in how under his leadership, the government will address rising inequalities, grow the economy and bring divided communities together. Tuesday’s vote on the government’s Universal Credit…
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Defining "Islamophobia" could restrict gospel freedom
25 June 2025Religion, politics, ethnicity and free speech are difficult conversations to have in a public forum without fear and are also a policy weakness for politicians who are either faith illiterate or struggle to appreciate the interaction between religions. However, there is no excuse to tolerate the rise in religious-motivated hate crime in the UK. In the official Hate Crime statistics for the year ending March 2024, - it showed “there was a 25% increase in religious hate crimes compared with the…
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Assisted suicide bill advances to the House of Lords
24 June 2025It is often said, how a society treats its most vulnerable is a reflection of how it measures and values humanity. I would like to go one step further and suggest the decision of politicians to conceive and propose to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales is a reflection on how cultural Christianity has had greater influence over political discourse more so than Genesis 1:26-27; and for that we must lament.
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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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Email your MP to vote no to assisted suicide
24 March 2025The assisted suicide bill will be the most important debate MPs will have in this parliamentary session, possibly their political career. The task at hand is to engage the 330 MPs who supported the bill at second reading and persuade them to reconsider their support ahead of the third reading vote. On Friday, 16 May the ‘report stage’ began, where MPs will debate the amendments made in committee as well as others proposed to change the bill. 'Third reading’ is now scheduled for 20 June, when…
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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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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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