Newsline 23 September 2016

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News, Blogs & Opinion

	UK must honour equality and human rights obligations, NSS tells UN News \| Thu, 22nd Sep 2016 The National Secular Society has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to recommend to the UK Government that it abolish religious discrimination in faith schools' admissions procedures. The call came in a wide-ranging submission for the UK's periodic review by the United Nations in which the NSS highlighted a number of areas where individual rights are being restricted by undue religious influence. The NSS said that previous recommendations on human rights and equality had not been acted on by the UK. The submission highlights the UK's failure to address religious discrimination in 'faith' school admissions and employment practices – and is highly critical of Government plans to increase levels of discrimination by allowing more religiously selective schools by removing the existing 50% cap. The submission also highlights a number of other areas where the UK's record of upholding human rights is poor, including abortion access in Northern Ireland, caste discrimination, and FGM. Discrimination in faith schools The NSS raised serious concerns about the UK's failure to address religious discrimination in 'faith' school admissions procedures and employment practices. Equality Act exceptions permit schools designated as having a religious character to select pupils by reference to faith where the school is oversubscribed. The Government has recently announced plans to remove a 50% cap of faith-based admissions for newly established schools ('free schools') enabling them apply 100% religious selection in admissions. The NSS submission noted that whilst the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had previously called on the UK to "actively promote a fully integrated education system" (in the context of Northern Ireland), the UK's response has been to facilitate greater levels of religious segregation in English faith schools. The Government has recently acknowledged that in minority faith schools in England the ethnic make-up is overwhelmingly formed of pupils from predominantly similar ethnic (and very likely religious) backgrounds. Our submission recommended that the UK eliminates religious selection in admissions procedures to publicly-funded schools and amend legislation to ensure that religious discrimination in employment at faith schools is limited to positions where there is a genuine occupational requirement. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion The Society urged the Human Rights Council to echo the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and call on the UK to repeal legal provisions for compulsory worship and Religious Observance in UK schools and ensure that young people have the independent right to opt-out of any acts of worship held in schools. Right to education The NSS raised concerns about children in the UK being schooled in unregistered and sometimes illegal settings, and being denied their right to a broad and balanced secular education. Our submission recommended that the UK develops a more robust strategy for protecting the rights and interests of children, including instituting a system to ensure it has accurate information about where every child is being educated and regularly reporting on the number of children missing from the formal education system either through home-schooling, supplementary, or illegal unregistered 'schools', taking investigative steps where children are unaccounted for, and closing down illegal schools. Gender-based violence The NSS raised serious concerns at the UK's failure to successfully prosecute a single case of female genital mutilation (FGM). Alarmingly, 30 years after FGM was made illegal in the UK, a 2016 Home Affairs Committee report found that "some clinicians are ignoring the duty on frontline healthcare professionals, social care workers and teachers to record data on FGM incidence". The submission urged the UN to question the UK Government on the current state of their strategy and stress to the UK that the universality of individual Human Rights should be upheld and not overridden on the grounds of religion, tradition or culture. Abortion in Northern Ireland Our submission highlighted the UK's failure to act on an earlier Human Rights Council recommendation to "Ensure by legislative and other measures that women in Northern Ireland are entitled to safe and legal abortion on equal basis with women living in other parts of the United Kingdom." Since 2012 the situation in Northern Ireland and the UK Government's failure to act has, if anything, become more concerning. The NSS called on the Human Rights Council to reiterate recommendations on abortion access in Northern Ireland Freedom of expression The submission was also an opportunity to raise concerns about the Government's apparently stalled proposals for 'extremism disruption orders'. Ill-thought out measures with an ill-defined notion of non-violence extremism "risk capturing a whole range of behaviour and speech", the NSS warned. "The UK already has sufficient legalisation in place to combat hate speech, including incitement to violence or hatred. Additional restrictions on free speech can only further jeopardise and chill freedom of expression." Caste discrimination The NSS took the opportunity of the UPR to restate its criticisms of the Government on the issue of caste discrimination. "We recommend the UK legislate to implement its international obligations in respect of caste, in line with its human rights obligations, as recommended by the UN, and indeed as required by the UK Parliament," the NSS submission said. This issue of caste-based discrimination was additionally raised at the United Nations Human Rights Council by the NSS this week.
	NSS intervenes at UN Human Rights Council over UK failure to outlaw caste discrimination News \| Mon, 19th Sep 2016 The National Secular Society has spoken out at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to criticise the UK Government over its failure to tackle caste based discrimination, as the UN has repeatedly urged it do. Josephine Macintosh (pictured right), speaking on behalf of the National Secular Society, told the UNHRC that the UK government had made "grossly inadequate" progress toward outlawing caste discrimination. "In 2012, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommended that the UK 'put in practice a national strategy to eliminate discrimination against caste' by adopting the Equality Act of 2010, which prohibits such discrimination. "It reminded the UK of its human rights obligations, including the [Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's] General Recommendation 29 and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism. "Sadly, the UPR's recommendation did 'not enjoy the support of the United Kingdom'. "Four years later, the CERD issued its Concluding Observations on the UK in which it also recommended that the UK invoke Section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act 'without further delay to ensure that caste-based discrimination is explicitly prohibited under law' and for victims to have access to effective remedies." The Equality Act allows the Government to make caste an aspect of race protected from discrimination under the legislation. "The UK has failed to take this action. Instead, it stated that it hopes for 'the development of case-law that provides protection.' This is grossly inadequate." Rather than explicitly outlawing discrimination based on caste as the UN has recommended and parliament has voted for, the Government recently announced a public consultation – many years after it first promised one, and long after it was urged by the United Nations to take legislative action. "This is concerning as it risks so-called higher caste and those wishing to discriminate on grounds of caste to oppose the legislation," the NSS said. "We therefore call on all member states to encourage the UK to legislate to implement its international obligations in respect of caste, in line with its human rights obligations, as recommended by the UN, and indeed as required by the UK Parliament." The intervention can be watched here: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/item4-general-debate-14th-meeting-33rd-regular-session-human-rights-council-/5131061115001 (Scroll down to intervention 49: National Secular Society, Ms. Josephine Macintosh) The intervention can be read in full here: https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/nss-intervention-at-uncrc-sept2016-caste.pdf
	Former deputy chair of NI education committee says teaching evolution ‘corrupts children’ News \| Fri, 23rd Sep 2016 Thomas Buchanan, a DUP MLA, has endorsed an event which seeks to teach creationism to children and said creationism should be taught "in every school". The DUP Assembly member said: "I long to see the day when every school in Northern Ireland will stand up and teach creationism, and turn away from the peddled lie that is evolution." The Irish News reported that the event, entitled, 'Reaching Children in an Evolutionised World', will include a talk that would "offer helpful practical advice on how to counter evolutionary teaching". It offers "the biblical case for the sound teaching of children." The event is run by Creation Outreach Ministries, who also offer school lecturing. Their mission statement says they "seek to encourage confidence in the absolute authority of the Scriptures, especially in relation to the Biblical account of creation. We endeavour to equip Christians on this matter, reach the wider community with the Gospel of Christ's salvation, contend against the theory of evolution and glorify God the Creator." Mr Buchanan said: "I'm someone who believes in creationism and that the world was spoken into existence in six days by His power. "I commend those behind this event for bringing forward a programme of reaching out to children who have been corrupted by the teaching of evolution." Colin Morrison, chair of Atheist NI, commented: "This is exploiting the trust of children, whose instinct is to believe their elders. It harms their future life chances and mental health. It's wrong, and I would appeal to schools to refrain from allowing any of this into the classroom." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns director, said it was "astonishing that such an enthusiastic advocate for creationism can hold a position with direct influence over young people's education. "Creationism offers no scientific alternative to evolution and has no place in the classroom. Educators everywhere should be vigilant against groups seeking to use schools to push anti-science religious dogma on impressionable young minds." Buchanan previously sat as the Deputy Chair of the Northern Ireland Employment and Learning Committee. He still serves as the Chairperson of the Assembly All Party Group on Cancer and Secretary. He previously said that homosexuality was an "abomination".
	Don’t wear red clothes or short skirts, ultra-orthodox rabbi tells Jewish women News \| Thu, 22nd Sep 2016 In a letter sent to 5000 homes, an ultra-orthodox rabbi warned women in Stamford Hill not to wear "eye-catching" clothes, telling them to dress modestly, avoiding bright colours and short skirts. The Jewish Chronicle reports that the letter, written by Rabbi Eliyahu Falk, was approved by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. It says that women should not wear clothes with an "unusual style as they would be eye-catching. Similarly, the clothes must not be red, a bright yellow or a fluorescent colour" which, the rabbi warned, could be "very eye-catching". "Calm colours" were desirable, the Rabbi wrote, because "hot colours solicit attention". He said that it was absolutely "essential" that clothes are not see-through, and cautioned that "many blouses and skirts manufactured nowadays are see-through to some degree". To avoid this, women should only wear "such blouses … with the protection of a loose fitting shell or T-shirt". Rabbi Falk said that "the length of a skirt or dress must extend until at least 4" (10cm) below the end of the knee." He said that this is "required because only with this additional length is one assured that the knees will remain covered even when running, sitting down, climbing stairs etc." He added that it was an "absolute obligation" to dress modestly and that the "shape" of women's upper bodies should not be "apparent". The rabbi then gave more detailed instructions about skirts, saying that women should make sure their "hips and thigs" were hidden and "camouflaged". He said there was nothing more "wholesome and beautiful" than modesty and that women were privileged to have the "duty" of dressing "in a way that befits the precious Jewish woman and girl". Dina Brawer, founder of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance said that the 'guidance' was controlling.
	Nearly a third of French Muslims prefer sharia to secular law, research finds News \| Tue, 20th Sep 2016 Polling by a French think tank has found that more than one in four French Muslims, most of whom are young, support an "ultra-conservative" form of Islam and around one in three reject secular rule, favouring sharia. The Institut Montaigne, a think tank which conducts research on social cohesion, found that 29% of French Muslims reject secular law and consider sharia to be more important. The group's research divided Muslims into three categories including those who were "completely secular" – about 46%; then those who were defined by what the think tank called their "Islamic pride", Muslim believers who rejected practices like polygamy (25%); and finally those the think tank said were in "revolt". It found 28% in the latter category and said they had an "authoritarian profile". The think tank's report warned that the "ultras" were "mostly young, low-skilled people with low levels of participation in the labour market" who considered Islam to be a "way of asserting themselves on the margins of French society". Concerns were particularly focused on the younger generation who, in an inversion of what demographers usually find in other faiths in the west, were showing signs of an increasing religiosity. More extreme views were "overrepresented among the young" and the think tank said this was a particularly worrying sign. Half of Muslims under the age of 25 fell into the "revolt" category, and were likely to support the burqa and polygamy. But just 20% of Muslims over the age of 40 were in the "revolt" category, according to the study, showing the significant generational divide among French Muslims. French Muslims also have a very young age profile: The study concluded that 84% of French Muslims were under the age of 50. But the author did find that French Muslims made up a smaller proportion of the French population than had previously been thought. The report tried to highlight successful "integration" and said a "French Islam" was possible, but among young Muslims a stark divide emerged. 24% of the total French Muslim population, according to the poll, supported the wearing of the burqa. An overwhelming number agreed with wearing the hijab, including in schools. The poll also found that a quarter of French Muslims thought religion should have a greater role in the workplace and 80% said that public schools should serve a halal option. French Muslim women were generally more conservative than French Muslim men.
	Church of England or Chancellor of the Exchequer: who’s setting the agenda? Opinion \| Mon, 19th Sep 2016 NSS treasurer Ed Moore writes on the blurred lines between church and state when it comes to taxpayer funding for church repairs, and the vast sums of money being sent from the Treasury to the Church of England. It can be hard, viewed from afar, to try and work out the relationship between the Church of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The government has debts of £1,620bn while the church has assets of over £20bn: What explains the continued flow of money from taxpayer to church? Is the chancellor setting the agenda based on solid facts of need and a good return on investment or is he simply handing over whatever the church demands? Government funding of the church has been a fact for centuries but recent announcements point to a speeding up of the flow of taxpayer money and in the specific area of church building financing we're beginning to see some evidence of who is leading. The facts point to the church now being firmly in control of policy. The document to start from is the 13th October 2015 report from the Church Buildings Review Group of the Church of England: … the Church of England has today published a report and launched a consultation on proposals to improve the support for its 16,000 church buildings. The report comes from the Church Buildings review group, which was chaired by the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Revd Dr John Inge. It contains many interesting facts and several very specific recommendations, all in helpfully numbered paragraphs. We'll start with; 46. … In view of all the other necessary expenditure that local congregations have to finance out of voluntary giving - contributing to the cost of paid clergy and other church workers, heating, maintaining and insuring churches and church halls, running a range of church and community based activities - the responsibility of caring for so many historic buildings is onerous. Would the Church of England rather not have to maintain all their buildings? 125. … over recent decades there has been an increasing recognition that the Church of England cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of caring for many of the country's most important buildings - …. - without significant, ongoing help. Would rather not and indeed cannot be expected to? It would be interesting to know who accepts that the organisation owning 16,000 properties should not have to pay for them. I only own one property and know that I need to pay for repairs, if I can't afford these I have to sell up. Is the church different? They obviously think so, for even among the pleas for help they praise how much money they've already persuaded the government to hand over: 48. Over recent years the Church of England has been successful in securing additional external assistance for keeping its 12,300 listed buildings in good repair: … the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme … Currently up to £42 million a year is available through this route. Because it has the largest number of historic buildings the Church of England is the single largest beneficiary. The Heritage Lottery Fund provides grants…. Currently £25 million* is provided each year in England, … Up to 15% of awards may be spent on development work.* The First World War Centenary Cathedral Fabric Repair Fund providing £20 million* was announced in the March 2014 Budget. …* The Government also announced in 2014 a special Church Roofs Fund, to be managed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Initially of £15 million, this was increased in the March 2015 budget by a further £40m … After stating they don't like repairing buildings, they shouldn't be expected to pay for it and in fact already do well in not paying for them we come to the specific recommendations (or to put it bluntly – demands) starting with: 127. The Church of England can be grateful for the significant help that has been provided in a variety of ways over recent years, as paragraphs 46-47 make clear. What is required now is some assurance that this help will be sustained. Early confirmation that the listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will continue at a realistic level of funding beyond next April is the most immediate need. How does the chancellor respond? The church report was published in October 2015, at lightning speed the chancellor replied: *Chancellor announces continued support for listed churches* *25 November 2015* Chancellor today awards vital funding packages for listed places of worship All listed places of worship will still be eligible to apply for a grant from a pot of £42 million announced by Chancellor George Osborne today. In less than a month, at a time of record debt and a large budget deficit the chancellor found £42m pounds. Was a business case put forward? Was a return on investment study referenced? Nobody says. As successful as this request was it pales besides the really big ask, namely a complete review of government payment for church property. 209. In the light of these we offer the following specific recommendations: 1. Church and Government representatives should explore ways in which more assured financial support for listed cathedrals and church buildings can be provided for in the long term. (Paragraphs 46-48 and 125-128). In detail: 128. Thereafter we believe that Church and Government representatives should explore ways in which more assured support for listed cathedrals and church buildings can be provided for the long term so that the clergy and lay people responsible for them do not have to spend disproportionate time, energy and resource on fabric issues to the detriment of their wider mission and ministry, and so that the future of these buildings, which are everyone's heritage, can be assured. Gobsmacking. Suddenly churches are 'everyone's heritage' not church assets and we all should pay for them because the church is busy on other things. How would the chancellor respond to this, a complete change of the approach to church funding? Would it be ignored, rejected, a judicial enquiry, a parliamentary committee appointed? No. Five months later on March 16^th the 2016 budget contained a small yet surprising item: 2.254 First World War Centenary cathedral repairs fund and English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review …. A review into sustaining England's churches and cathedrals will be set up to assess maintenance and repair pressures and examine how the sector can become more financially sustainable. So without warning or preamble the government announced they would review the financial health of the Church of England buildings (and provide some more money of course). This wouldn't make any sense unless you'd read the Church Buildings Review in which case it made perfect sense. The government would review the property arrangements of a non-government organisation whose staff had just completed a review. Why? The church demanded, the chancellor bowed to the pressure. The reason for setting up a taskforce and holding a government review was explained in some depth, most of which readers of the Church Building Review would be familiar with. *English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review* The Church of England, responsible for over a third of England's grade I listed buildings, has recently conducted a major review of the stewardship of its cathedrals and 16,000 church buildings (75% of which are listed). …. The task force will be charged with: Exploring new models of financing repairs and maintenance of churches and cathedrals, including reviewing existing maintenance costs and repairs funding from lottery and central government grants. … Consulting with stakeholders including: Church of England, church-goers, charities, local residents and business on ideas for uses of listed buildings for purposes beyond worship and current barriers that prevent these and how to generate revenue from these. It's interesting to note the direct references to the original church review, acknowledging who is driving the process. But what would the process be? One MP asked that very question: On 5th September 2016 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, answered a written question from Mark Hendrick MP about churches in the Diocese of Blackburn and the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review. Mr Mark Hendrick (Preston): To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, which churches and personnel in Preston and the rest of the Diocese of Blackburn have participated in the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review. Mrs Caroline Spelman: The Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England is engaging with the 'English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review' centrally on behalf of all the Anglican Cathedrals and Parish Churches in England. Engagement is currently at an early stage. Four workshops are being held in churches this month (September) to help inform a document that will then be widely consulted upon. So the Church Buildings Division, the very people who produced the initial report would speak for all 16,000 churches. Local residents, businesses and other interested parties would get just four meetings, which were quietly announced by the DCMS and indeed held before Mrs Spelman had replied. *English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review* *24 August 2016 (Luton); 1 September (Stoke); 5 September (Durham); 15 September (Hereford): all 13.30-16.30* … As part of its initial evidence gathering, the Review would like to hear from people in local communities about how these iconic buildings are currently being used and what steps could be taken to further open these buildings up to wider community use. The workshops will provide an opportunity to: * hear more about innovative uses of church buildings - from exhibition venues to internet cafes & Pilates classes to farmer's markets, citizens advice bureau and community cinemas; * discuss how you could get involved and inform Government thinking in this area. None in London. None in the South-East. None in the South-West. Being an interested party I asked to attend the Luton event, which was cancelled due to lack of attendees. It was rescheduled to September 6^th then cancelled again for the same reason. Only three workshops were therefore held in total. The NSS asked for a copy of the slides being used at the workshops, to see what format and framing the DCMS was using. These proved enlightening but not in the way expected. The workshop would have been run by Dr David Knight of the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England, the same division who wrote the original report. Not the DCMS. More information on the sustainability review should apparently be published within weeks and I'm curious to see what happens next. The evidence so far suggests the church will still be setting the agenda. So far we've had: * The church asks for the Places of Worship Grant to be extended and the chancellor announces this. * The church asks for a review into sustainability of church buildings and the chancellor announces this. * The sustainability taskforce allows the church buildings team to speak for all churches and allows them to also run the DCMS workshops. I don't know what the next announcement will be, but I don't think it will unfavourable to the church. I'd hope the government apply some rigour to the review and make some unpalatable truths be swallowed but I'm not hopeful. In fact the church buildings team are probably hoping to speed through the process of extracting more cash from the government with as little fuss as possible. After all they'll want to concentrate on much more exciting projects such as the new eight storey Lambeth Palace Library which they can afford and don't find onerous: The scheme is funded by the Church Commissioners and if planning permission is granted, the new library could be ready in 2020. "The plans for the new Lambeth Palace Library are exciting," said the Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Much more interesting than repairing old churches. Will the library be "everyone's heritage"? No, but we will be allowed on one floor apparently. Many thanks.

NSS Speaks Out

Our executive director Keith Porteous Wood was interviewed by Maryam Namazie on why secularism protected believers and atheists alike. NSS communications officer Benjamin Jones spoke on nine BBC local radio stations on Sunday 18^th about how far schools and businesses should go to accommodate religious holidays.

Essays of the Week

How on earth can a 100 per cent faith school hope to encompass pupils from a variety of backgrounds?
Bernard Trafford, TES.

The 'Islamophobic' attacks you don't hear about.
Douglas Murray, Spectator.

Upcoming Events

Scottish Secular Society - What Does the ‘Post-secular Age’ Mean for Education?

Thu, 3rd Nov 2016

International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression in the 21st Century

Sat, 22nd Jul 2017

	UK must honour equality and human rights obligations, NSS tells UN News \| Thu, 22nd Sep 2016 The National Secular Society has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to recommend to the UK Government that it abolish religious discrimination in faith schools' admissions procedures. The call came in a wide-ranging submission for the UK's periodic review by the United Nations in which the NSS highlighted a number of areas where individual rights are being restricted by undue religious influence. The NSS said that previous recommendations on human rights and equality had not been acted on by the UK. The submission highlights the UK's failure to address religious discrimination in 'faith' school admissions and employment practices – and is highly critical of Government plans to increase levels of discrimination by allowing more religiously selective schools by removing the existing 50% cap. The submission also highlights a number of other areas where the UK's record of upholding human rights is poor, including abortion access in Northern Ireland, caste discrimination, and FGM. Discrimination in faith schools The NSS raised serious concerns about the UK's failure to address religious discrimination in 'faith' school admissions procedures and employment practices. Equality Act exceptions permit schools designated as having a religious character to select pupils by reference to faith where the school is oversubscribed. The Government has recently announced plans to remove a 50% cap of faith-based admissions for newly established schools ('free schools') enabling them apply 100% religious selection in admissions. The NSS submission noted that whilst the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had previously called on the UK to "actively promote a fully integrated education system" (in the context of Northern Ireland), the UK's response has been to facilitate greater levels of religious segregation in English faith schools. The Government has recently acknowledged that in minority faith schools in England the ethnic make-up is overwhelmingly formed of pupils from predominantly similar ethnic (and very likely religious) backgrounds. Our submission recommended that the UK eliminates religious selection in admissions procedures to publicly-funded schools and amend legislation to ensure that religious discrimination in employment at faith schools is limited to positions where there is a genuine occupational requirement. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion The Society urged the Human Rights Council to echo the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and call on the UK to repeal legal provisions for compulsory worship and Religious Observance in UK schools and ensure that young people have the independent right to opt-out of any acts of worship held in schools. Right to education The NSS raised concerns about children in the UK being schooled in unregistered and sometimes illegal settings, and being denied their right to a broad and balanced secular education. Our submission recommended that the UK develops a more robust strategy for protecting the rights and interests of children, including instituting a system to ensure it has accurate information about where every child is being educated and regularly reporting on the number of children missing from the formal education system either through home-schooling, supplementary, or illegal unregistered 'schools', taking investigative steps where children are unaccounted for, and closing down illegal schools. Gender-based violence The NSS raised serious concerns at the UK's failure to successfully prosecute a single case of female genital mutilation (FGM). Alarmingly, 30 years after FGM was made illegal in the UK, a 2016 Home Affairs Committee report found that "some clinicians are ignoring the duty on frontline healthcare professionals, social care workers and teachers to record data on FGM incidence". The submission urged the UN to question the UK Government on the current state of their strategy and stress to the UK that the universality of individual Human Rights should be upheld and not overridden on the grounds of religion, tradition or culture. Abortion in Northern Ireland Our submission highlighted the UK's failure to act on an earlier Human Rights Council recommendation to "Ensure by legislative and other measures that women in Northern Ireland are entitled to safe and legal abortion on equal basis with women living in other parts of the United Kingdom." Since 2012 the situation in Northern Ireland and the UK Government's failure to act has, if anything, become more concerning. The NSS called on the Human Rights Council to reiterate recommendations on abortion access in Northern Ireland Freedom of expression The submission was also an opportunity to raise concerns about the Government's apparently stalled proposals for 'extremism disruption orders'. Ill-thought out measures with an ill-defined notion of non-violence extremism "risk capturing a whole range of behaviour and speech", the NSS warned. "The UK already has sufficient legalisation in place to combat hate speech, including incitement to violence or hatred. Additional restrictions on free speech can only further jeopardise and chill freedom of expression." Caste discrimination The NSS took the opportunity of the UPR to restate its criticisms of the Government on the issue of caste discrimination. "We recommend the UK legislate to implement its international obligations in respect of caste, in line with its human rights obligations, as recommended by the UN, and indeed as required by the UK Parliament," the NSS submission said. This issue of caste-based discrimination was additionally raised at the United Nations Human Rights Council by the NSS this week.
	NSS intervenes at UN Human Rights Council over UK failure to outlaw caste discrimination News \| Mon, 19th Sep 2016 The National Secular Society has spoken out at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to criticise the UK Government over its failure to tackle caste based discrimination, as the UN has repeatedly urged it do. Josephine Macintosh (pictured right), speaking on behalf of the National Secular Society, told the UNHRC that the UK government had made "grossly inadequate" progress toward outlawing caste discrimination. "In 2012, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommended that the UK 'put in practice a national strategy to eliminate discrimination against caste' by adopting the Equality Act of 2010, which prohibits such discrimination. "It reminded the UK of its human rights obligations, including the [Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's] General Recommendation 29 and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism. "Sadly, the UPR's recommendation did 'not enjoy the support of the United Kingdom'. "Four years later, the CERD issued its Concluding Observations on the UK in which it also recommended that the UK invoke Section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act 'without further delay to ensure that caste-based discrimination is explicitly prohibited under law' and for victims to have access to effective remedies." The Equality Act allows the Government to make caste an aspect of race protected from discrimination under the legislation. "The UK has failed to take this action. Instead, it stated that it hopes for 'the development of case-law that provides protection.' This is grossly inadequate." Rather than explicitly outlawing discrimination based on caste as the UN has recommended and parliament has voted for, the Government recently announced a public consultation – many years after it first promised one, and long after it was urged by the United Nations to take legislative action. "This is concerning as it risks so-called higher caste and those wishing to discriminate on grounds of caste to oppose the legislation," the NSS said. "We therefore call on all member states to encourage the UK to legislate to implement its international obligations in respect of caste, in line with its human rights obligations, as recommended by the UN, and indeed as required by the UK Parliament." The intervention can be watched here: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/item4-general-debate-14th-meeting-33rd-regular-session-human-rights-council-/5131061115001 (Scroll down to intervention 49: National Secular Society, Ms. Josephine Macintosh) The intervention can be read in full here: https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/nss-intervention-at-uncrc-sept2016-caste.pdf
	Former deputy chair of NI education committee says teaching evolution ‘corrupts children’ News \| Fri, 23rd Sep 2016 Thomas Buchanan, a DUP MLA, has endorsed an event which seeks to teach creationism to children and said creationism should be taught "in every school". The DUP Assembly member said: "I long to see the day when every school in Northern Ireland will stand up and teach creationism, and turn away from the peddled lie that is evolution." The Irish News reported that the event, entitled, 'Reaching Children in an Evolutionised World', will include a talk that would "offer helpful practical advice on how to counter evolutionary teaching". It offers "the biblical case for the sound teaching of children." The event is run by Creation Outreach Ministries, who also offer school lecturing. Their mission statement says they "seek to encourage confidence in the absolute authority of the Scriptures, especially in relation to the Biblical account of creation. We endeavour to equip Christians on this matter, reach the wider community with the Gospel of Christ's salvation, contend against the theory of evolution and glorify God the Creator." Mr Buchanan said: "I'm someone who believes in creationism and that the world was spoken into existence in six days by His power. "I commend those behind this event for bringing forward a programme of reaching out to children who have been corrupted by the teaching of evolution." Colin Morrison, chair of Atheist NI, commented: "This is exploiting the trust of children, whose instinct is to believe their elders. It harms their future life chances and mental health. It's wrong, and I would appeal to schools to refrain from allowing any of this into the classroom." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns director, said it was "astonishing that such an enthusiastic advocate for creationism can hold a position with direct influence over young people's education. "Creationism offers no scientific alternative to evolution and has no place in the classroom. Educators everywhere should be vigilant against groups seeking to use schools to push anti-science religious dogma on impressionable young minds." Buchanan previously sat as the Deputy Chair of the Northern Ireland Employment and Learning Committee. He still serves as the Chairperson of the Assembly All Party Group on Cancer and Secretary. He previously said that homosexuality was an "abomination".
	Don’t wear red clothes or short skirts, ultra-orthodox rabbi tells Jewish women News \| Thu, 22nd Sep 2016 In a letter sent to 5000 homes, an ultra-orthodox rabbi warned women in Stamford Hill not to wear "eye-catching" clothes, telling them to dress modestly, avoiding bright colours and short skirts. The Jewish Chronicle reports that the letter, written by Rabbi Eliyahu Falk, was approved by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. It says that women should not wear clothes with an "unusual style as they would be eye-catching. Similarly, the clothes must not be red, a bright yellow or a fluorescent colour" which, the rabbi warned, could be "very eye-catching". "Calm colours" were desirable, the Rabbi wrote, because "hot colours solicit attention". He said that it was absolutely "essential" that clothes are not see-through, and cautioned that "many blouses and skirts manufactured nowadays are see-through to some degree". To avoid this, women should only wear "such blouses … with the protection of a loose fitting shell or T-shirt". Rabbi Falk said that "the length of a skirt or dress must extend until at least 4" (10cm) below the end of the knee." He said that this is "required because only with this additional length is one assured that the knees will remain covered even when running, sitting down, climbing stairs etc." He added that it was an "absolute obligation" to dress modestly and that the "shape" of women's upper bodies should not be "apparent". The rabbi then gave more detailed instructions about skirts, saying that women should make sure their "hips and thigs" were hidden and "camouflaged". He said there was nothing more "wholesome and beautiful" than modesty and that women were privileged to have the "duty" of dressing "in a way that befits the precious Jewish woman and girl". Dina Brawer, founder of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance said that the 'guidance' was controlling.
	Nearly a third of French Muslims prefer sharia to secular law, research finds News \| Tue, 20th Sep 2016 Polling by a French think tank has found that more than one in four French Muslims, most of whom are young, support an "ultra-conservative" form of Islam and around one in three reject secular rule, favouring sharia. The Institut Montaigne, a think tank which conducts research on social cohesion, found that 29% of French Muslims reject secular law and consider sharia to be more important. The group's research divided Muslims into three categories including those who were "completely secular" – about 46%; then those who were defined by what the think tank called their "Islamic pride", Muslim believers who rejected practices like polygamy (25%); and finally those the think tank said were in "revolt". It found 28% in the latter category and said they had an "authoritarian profile". The think tank's report warned that the "ultras" were "mostly young, low-skilled people with low levels of participation in the labour market" who considered Islam to be a "way of asserting themselves on the margins of French society". Concerns were particularly focused on the younger generation who, in an inversion of what demographers usually find in other faiths in the west, were showing signs of an increasing religiosity. More extreme views were "overrepresented among the young" and the think tank said this was a particularly worrying sign. Half of Muslims under the age of 25 fell into the "revolt" category, and were likely to support the burqa and polygamy. But just 20% of Muslims over the age of 40 were in the "revolt" category, according to the study, showing the significant generational divide among French Muslims. French Muslims also have a very young age profile: The study concluded that 84% of French Muslims were under the age of 50. But the author did find that French Muslims made up a smaller proportion of the French population than had previously been thought. The report tried to highlight successful "integration" and said a "French Islam" was possible, but among young Muslims a stark divide emerged. 24% of the total French Muslim population, according to the poll, supported the wearing of the burqa. An overwhelming number agreed with wearing the hijab, including in schools. The poll also found that a quarter of French Muslims thought religion should have a greater role in the workplace and 80% said that public schools should serve a halal option. French Muslim women were generally more conservative than French Muslim men.
	Church of England or Chancellor of the Exchequer: who’s setting the agenda? Opinion \| Mon, 19th Sep 2016 NSS treasurer Ed Moore writes on the blurred lines between church and state when it comes to taxpayer funding for church repairs, and the vast sums of money being sent from the Treasury to the Church of England. It can be hard, viewed from afar, to try and work out the relationship between the Church of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The government has debts of £1,620bn while the church has assets of over £20bn: What explains the continued flow of money from taxpayer to church? Is the chancellor setting the agenda based on solid facts of need and a good return on investment or is he simply handing over whatever the church demands? Government funding of the church has been a fact for centuries but recent announcements point to a speeding up of the flow of taxpayer money and in the specific area of church building financing we're beginning to see some evidence of who is leading. The facts point to the church now being firmly in control of policy. The document to start from is the 13th October 2015 report from the Church Buildings Review Group of the Church of England: … the Church of England has today published a report and launched a consultation on proposals to improve the support for its 16,000 church buildings. The report comes from the Church Buildings review group, which was chaired by the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Revd Dr John Inge. It contains many interesting facts and several very specific recommendations, all in helpfully numbered paragraphs. We'll start with; 46. … In view of all the other necessary expenditure that local congregations have to finance out of voluntary giving - contributing to the cost of paid clergy and other church workers, heating, maintaining and insuring churches and church halls, running a range of church and community based activities - the responsibility of caring for so many historic buildings is onerous. Would the Church of England rather not have to maintain all their buildings? 125. … over recent decades there has been an increasing recognition that the Church of England cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of caring for many of the country's most important buildings - …. - without significant, ongoing help. Would rather not and indeed cannot be expected to? It would be interesting to know who accepts that the organisation owning 16,000 properties should not have to pay for them. I only own one property and know that I need to pay for repairs, if I can't afford these I have to sell up. Is the church different? They obviously think so, for even among the pleas for help they praise how much money they've already persuaded the government to hand over: 48. Over recent years the Church of England has been successful in securing additional external assistance for keeping its 12,300 listed buildings in good repair: … the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme … Currently up to £42 million a year is available through this route. Because it has the largest number of historic buildings the Church of England is the single largest beneficiary. The Heritage Lottery Fund provides grants…. Currently £25 million* is provided each year in England, … Up to 15% of awards may be spent on development work.* The First World War Centenary Cathedral Fabric Repair Fund providing £20 million* was announced in the March 2014 Budget. …* The Government also announced in 2014 a special Church Roofs Fund, to be managed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Initially of £15 million, this was increased in the March 2015 budget by a further £40m … After stating they don't like repairing buildings, they shouldn't be expected to pay for it and in fact already do well in not paying for them we come to the specific recommendations (or to put it bluntly – demands) starting with: 127. The Church of England can be grateful for the significant help that has been provided in a variety of ways over recent years, as paragraphs 46-47 make clear. What is required now is some assurance that this help will be sustained. Early confirmation that the listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will continue at a realistic level of funding beyond next April is the most immediate need. How does the chancellor respond? The church report was published in October 2015, at lightning speed the chancellor replied: *Chancellor announces continued support for listed churches* *25 November 2015* Chancellor today awards vital funding packages for listed places of worship All listed places of worship will still be eligible to apply for a grant from a pot of £42 million announced by Chancellor George Osborne today. In less than a month, at a time of record debt and a large budget deficit the chancellor found £42m pounds. Was a business case put forward? Was a return on investment study referenced? Nobody says. As successful as this request was it pales besides the really big ask, namely a complete review of government payment for church property. 209. In the light of these we offer the following specific recommendations: 1. Church and Government representatives should explore ways in which more assured financial support for listed cathedrals and church buildings can be provided for in the long term. (Paragraphs 46-48 and 125-128). In detail: 128. Thereafter we believe that Church and Government representatives should explore ways in which more assured support for listed cathedrals and church buildings can be provided for the long term so that the clergy and lay people responsible for them do not have to spend disproportionate time, energy and resource on fabric issues to the detriment of their wider mission and ministry, and so that the future of these buildings, which are everyone's heritage, can be assured. Gobsmacking. Suddenly churches are 'everyone's heritage' not church assets and we all should pay for them because the church is busy on other things. How would the chancellor respond to this, a complete change of the approach to church funding? Would it be ignored, rejected, a judicial enquiry, a parliamentary committee appointed? No. Five months later on March 16^th the 2016 budget contained a small yet surprising item: 2.254 First World War Centenary cathedral repairs fund and English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review …. A review into sustaining England's churches and cathedrals will be set up to assess maintenance and repair pressures and examine how the sector can become more financially sustainable. So without warning or preamble the government announced they would review the financial health of the Church of England buildings (and provide some more money of course). This wouldn't make any sense unless you'd read the Church Buildings Review in which case it made perfect sense. The government would review the property arrangements of a non-government organisation whose staff had just completed a review. Why? The church demanded, the chancellor bowed to the pressure. The reason for setting up a taskforce and holding a government review was explained in some depth, most of which readers of the Church Building Review would be familiar with. *English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review* The Church of England, responsible for over a third of England's grade I listed buildings, has recently conducted a major review of the stewardship of its cathedrals and 16,000 church buildings (75% of which are listed). …. The task force will be charged with: Exploring new models of financing repairs and maintenance of churches and cathedrals, including reviewing existing maintenance costs and repairs funding from lottery and central government grants. … Consulting with stakeholders including: Church of England, church-goers, charities, local residents and business on ideas for uses of listed buildings for purposes beyond worship and current barriers that prevent these and how to generate revenue from these. It's interesting to note the direct references to the original church review, acknowledging who is driving the process. But what would the process be? One MP asked that very question: On 5th September 2016 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, answered a written question from Mark Hendrick MP about churches in the Diocese of Blackburn and the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review. Mr Mark Hendrick (Preston): To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, which churches and personnel in Preston and the rest of the Diocese of Blackburn have participated in the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review. Mrs Caroline Spelman: The Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England is engaging with the 'English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review' centrally on behalf of all the Anglican Cathedrals and Parish Churches in England. Engagement is currently at an early stage. Four workshops are being held in churches this month (September) to help inform a document that will then be widely consulted upon. So the Church Buildings Division, the very people who produced the initial report would speak for all 16,000 churches. Local residents, businesses and other interested parties would get just four meetings, which were quietly announced by the DCMS and indeed held before Mrs Spelman had replied. *English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review* *24 August 2016 (Luton); 1 September (Stoke); 5 September (Durham); 15 September (Hereford): all 13.30-16.30* … As part of its initial evidence gathering, the Review would like to hear from people in local communities about how these iconic buildings are currently being used and what steps could be taken to further open these buildings up to wider community use. The workshops will provide an opportunity to: * hear more about innovative uses of church buildings - from exhibition venues to internet cafes & Pilates classes to farmer's markets, citizens advice bureau and community cinemas; * discuss how you could get involved and inform Government thinking in this area. None in London. None in the South-East. None in the South-West. Being an interested party I asked to attend the Luton event, which was cancelled due to lack of attendees. It was rescheduled to September 6^th then cancelled again for the same reason. Only three workshops were therefore held in total. The NSS asked for a copy of the slides being used at the workshops, to see what format and framing the DCMS was using. These proved enlightening but not in the way expected. The workshop would have been run by Dr David Knight of the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England, the same division who wrote the original report. Not the DCMS. More information on the sustainability review should apparently be published within weeks and I'm curious to see what happens next. The evidence so far suggests the church will still be setting the agenda. So far we've had: * The church asks for the Places of Worship Grant to be extended and the chancellor announces this. * The church asks for a review into sustainability of church buildings and the chancellor announces this. * The sustainability taskforce allows the church buildings team to speak for all churches and allows them to also run the DCMS workshops. I don't know what the next announcement will be, but I don't think it will unfavourable to the church. I'd hope the government apply some rigour to the review and make some unpalatable truths be swallowed but I'm not hopeful. In fact the church buildings team are probably hoping to speed through the process of extracting more cash from the government with as little fuss as possible. After all they'll want to concentrate on much more exciting projects such as the new eight storey Lambeth Palace Library which they can afford and don't find onerous: The scheme is funded by the Church Commissioners and if planning permission is granted, the new library could be ready in 2020. "The plans for the new Lambeth Palace Library are exciting," said the Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Much more interesting than repairing old churches. Will the library be "everyone's heritage"? No, but we will be allowed on one floor apparently. Many thanks.

Newsline 23 September 2016

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