Government establishes “faith groups task force”

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”.

It will start with a consultation with “the faith communities”, which will be conducted by Malcolm Duncan of the Faithworks project – which wishes to see large amounts of public welfare provision handed over to “faith groups”.

The “Faiths Taskforce” will be chaired by Alun Michael MP, who said of it: “I am committed to an open dialogue with people of faith and belief. Instead of privilege and position and protectionism, Labour is seeking to understand the contribution of faith and belief to political life in the UK looking for new and innovative ways of supporting people motivated by faith and belief within the Labour Party.”

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, has questioned the way this is being done. “Why is this consultation restricted only to the ‘faith communities’? Why aren’t those of us who don’t think it is a good idea to hand over welfare to religious groups being asked for our opinion? We are taxpayers, and we want a say in how our money is spent and how the society we live in is being shaped.”

Mr Sanderson said that it was disgraceful that the consultation was being conducted by someone with such a large vested interest in the outcome. “Malcolm Duncan may be well-intentioned, but he is head of an organisation that is seeking to extend religion into public life. How on earth is this supposed to be independent or objective?”

Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, appealed to members of the Labour Party and those who have a Labour MP to take action. He said: “The results of this consultation will be used to inform the next Labour Party manifesto. If you are a member of the Labour Party, or have a Labour MP, please make your opposition to this known. We need the Party to know that their obsession with religion is not shared among the whole population and this might actually be of electoral disadvantage to them.”

27 June 2008