The Church of England is set to become the biggest sponsor by far of academy schools, ensuring that middle class parents will find it easier to get an exclusive education for their children without having to pay fees for private schools.

Plans for a secular academy on the site of a Catholic college are being challenged by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Multi-award winning comedian Ricky Gervais has become an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.

Editorial by Terry Sanderson
Twelve hundred right-wing bishops and other clerics from the Anglican Church around the world have gathered in Jerusalem this week to participate in an alternative to the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference.

Soon after the report commissioned by the Church of England, Moral, but no Compass, which argued for more Government recognition of the work of churches, the Prime Minister has launched a Labour party “Faiths Task Force”.

Should religious belief be protected from “defamation”? Is respect for the sensibilities of religious believers compatible with freedom of speech? How should the EU respond to a UN Human Rights Council resolution that endorses restrictions on freedom of expression in the name of "respect for religions and beliefs”? These issues were discussed by MEPs and experts at a meeting of the EP Subcommittee on Human Rights yesterday (Thursday).