The UK is a diverse society; a secular political system allows us all to develop equally in peace and fairness.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, gave an Easter reception for Christian leaders at Downing Street this week at which he delivered an unctuous speech of such disingenuousness and hypocrisy that it almost takes the breath away.

We've been trying for a long time to get a national debate going about the place of religion in British society. It took our court case in Bideford to really ignite it.

As we contemplate the implications of the High Court decision that the saying of prayers as part of local council business is illegal, the National Secular Society is bracing for an absolute torrent of abuse, exaggeration, misrepresentation and hysteria from conservative sources.

Last week, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Trevor Phillips, wrote an article in the Sunday Times in which he expressed concern about the way in which the Human Rights Act is being abused and, as he put it, "used in ways which any reasonable person would describe as thoroughly bonkers".

NSS President, Terry Sanderson, reflects on the hostile reaction from commentators to our challenge to prayers during council meetings.