The National Secular Society works for the separation of religion and state and equal respect for everyone's human rights so that no one is either advantaged or disadvantaged on account of their beliefs.
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy.
Latest News
Posted: Thu, 17 Jan 2019
Council leader silencing debate on schools’ non-stun meat, NSS says
The NSS has criticised a Yorkshire council's leader for "trying to silence" objections to the supply of non-stun halal meat to schools.
Posted: Wed, 16 Jan 2019
Medical ethicist Brian Earp to speak at Secularism 2019
Cross-disciplinary medical ethicist Dr Brian D. Earp will address the NSS's Secularism 2019 conference on 'reclaiming religious freedom'....
Posted: Mon, 14 Jan 2019
Prayers shouldn’t be part of parliamentary business, say MPs
MPs have called for an end to the practice of holding prayers in parliament in an early day motion backed by the NSS.
Posted: Wed, 09 Jan 2019
NSS calls on equality body to promote inclusive education
The NSS has called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission to back a secular education system in response to a new strategic plan.
Posted: Fri, 04 Jan 2019
NSS urges councils to resist religiously selective faith schools
The NSS has urged local education authorities not to open schools which can select all their children based on their families' faith.
Opinion
Former NSS president Barbara Smoker's book My Godforsaken Life: Memoir of a Maverick reminds us of the value of ordinary people's principled activism and provides a link to secularists of the past, says Helen Nicholls.
Barbara Smoker’s remarkable life should inspire us all
Posted: Thu, 17 Jan 2019
As MPs launch a motion against parliamentary prayers, NSS CEO Stephen Evans says ending the anachronistic custom would strike a blow for modernity, equality and freedom of conscience.
Institutionalised prayer doesn't belong in parliament
Posted: Wed, 16 Jan 2019
Moves to introduce humanist chaplaincy services in some NHS hospitals paper over the cracks in a discriminatory service, Dr Antony Lempert argues.
The NHS’s pastoral support shouldn’t be based on religiosity
Posted: Fri, 11 Jan 2019
One of the pope's Christmas messages urged clerical abusers to hand themselves in. Keith Porteous Wood asks how effective it will be in bringing perpetrators to the courts and assesses the pope's progress over abuse.
The pope's empty words and meaningless gestures won't tackle clerical abuse
Posted: Mon, 07 Jan 2019
After a father threatens the government with legal action over a requirement to teach about LGBT people in independent schools, Alastair Lichten argues the focus should remain on protecting pupils' rights.
Weaponised unreasonableness: father claims school standards violate his rights
Posted: Mon, 07 Jan 2019