We don't think religious worship should play any part in the formal business of the state.
We want to see parliamentary and local government meetings conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all attendees, whatever their personal beliefs.
Parliamentary prayers
Sittings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords begin with Anglican prayers. MPs and peers stand for prayers facing the wall behind them – a practice thought to have developed due to the difficulty members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray while wearing a sword.
When the chamber is at its busiest, parliamentary prayers act as a bizarre and antiquated seat reservation system. Even MPs and peers who are slated to speak have no option but to attend prayers in order to reserve a seat.
Whilst they may be viewed by some as an important tradition, parliamentary prayers serve to assert the superiority of Christianity (and the Church of England in particular) at Westminster. This 'tradition' is inimical to a modern, pluralistic, secular democracy.
In the Scottish Parliament, Tuesday afternoon sessions begin with 'Time for Reflection', with faith and belief representatives invited to addresses members for up to four minutes. The Northern Ireland Assembly begins formal business with a period of two minutes of silent prayer or contemplation. The Welsh Assembly has adopted no such rituals.
Parliamentarians who wish to pray are free to do so. But prayers should not form part of the official business of Parliament.
Council prayers
Many local authorities in Britain also begin their meetings with prayer.
Local democracy should be equally welcoming to all sections of society, regardless of their religion or belief. Council meetings should be conducted without anyone feeling excluded, or compelled to either participate in prayers or absent themselves from part of the meeting.
Council prayers open the door to wholly unnecessary conflict and sectarian squabbles within local authorities. There is a history of local councillors being bullied and marginalised for challenging council prayers.
The absence of prayers from the formal business of meetings in no way impedes religious freedoms or denies anybody the right to pray. Conversely, organised worship in secular settings imposes worship on those who do not share the faith. A genuine commitment to freedom of religion or belief is incompatible with including acts of worship in the formal business of council meetings.
If local authorities wish to hold a moment of silent reflection at the beginning of a meeting, or if councillors wish to meet for prayers prior to the meeting, they are at liberty to do so.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please enter your postcode and urge your MP to support an alternative to parliamentary prayers, to make parliament more welcoming to people of all faiths and none.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue - for example, if you would like to challenge prayers at your own council.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
City of London asks for secular message at official dinner
Posted: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 10:25
The City of London has asked the Lord Mayor's chaplain to give a religiously-neutral message, rather than a Christian grace, at an official dinner.
The City told the chaplain, Rev Canon Roger Royle, to give the message at a black tie event for the charitable Dragon Awards last week. The awards, which are held at the Mansion House, recognise corporate community involvement.
"[We] respect people of all religious beliefs and those who have none," said the City of London Corporation. "The note of thanks felt most appropriate for our audience as a celebration of London's diversity."
The National Secular Society welcomed the decision. "There is no justification for holding communal prayers at a non-religious public event," said communications officer Chris Sloggett.
At the dinner the toastmaster mistakenly said Rev Royle would give a grace. The priest then explained his instructions and read out some lines from the awards website.
Rev Royle told the Sunday Times that he disagreed with the decision. "I don't see why we didn't have a proper grace because the atmosphere of the evening was perfectly Christian," he said. "In the City… you've got to make sure God does get a look in". George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said the chaplain should either have resigned or defied instructions and said grace.
Mr Sloggett said the Church's reaction to the decision had "shown, perhaps inadvertently, what the next logical step should be".
"It is indeed incongruous for Church officials to be delivering secular messages at public events. They have no qualifications for the job, and on the evidence of this dinner they throw an immature strop when they are asked to do it. But the answer to that should not be to reinstate religious messages – it should be to take the Church out of our public ceremonies altogether."
The event is the latest to spark debate on communal religious observance. Last week the NSS wrote to the Justice Secretary to ask him to scrap Judges' Services, where judges attend an Anglican service and pray for guidance fully robed, in their official capacity and during working hours. And last month Belfast's new Lord Mayor, Nuala McAllister, bucked a trend by not inviting anyone to say grace before her installation dinner. The NSS commended her decision.
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Vast majority of Welsh councils no longer hold prayers during meetings
Posted: Sun, 23 Jul 2017 07:35
Councils across Wales no longer hold prayers as part of their official business after the National Secular Society won a court battle over the practice.
NSS analysis of new research from the BBC has revealed that almost none of Wales's local authorities now holds official prayers during meetings.
Eighteen of the 22 unitary authorities in Wales did not hold prayers as part of council business. Only one, Denbighshire, said it did so regularly. 13 others regularly hold prayers separate from council business. In theory this means atheists or those of other faiths do not have to attend, but in at least two cases there appears to be no meaningful separation between the prayers and official business.
Vale of Glamorgan recently re-introduced Christian prayers at the request of a new mayor after her predecessor, had 'humanist blessings'.
The National Secular Society said councils "shouldn't be clubs for Christians" but the Church in Wales said prayer or reflection "could be hugely beneficial" and provide an opportunity to "ask for God's guidance on our decisions".
The BBC obtained its information under the Freedom of Information Act.
In 2012 the High Court ruled that the prayers said at Bideford Town Council were not lawful, as there was no statutory power to hold them under the Local Government Act 1972. The judge said prayers could only be said where councillors had not been formally summoned to attend.
The ruling came after an atheist councillor complained about the practice and the NSS initiated a judicial review of it. It was seen as a test case which could affect local councils across England and Wales.
In 2015 the government changed the law in England. The Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act made provision for the inclusion of prayers, "other religious observance" or "observance connected with a religious or philosophical belief" at local authority meetings. But (except for a few cross border authorities) the Act does not apply in Wales.
The NSS has campaigned for prayers to be clearly separated from official Council business in order to protect equality and freedom of and from religion.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director,said: "It's clear that the vast majority of Welsh councils have either scrapped prayers altogether or removed them from the body of their meetings. These arrangements, which we campaigned for, allow councillors and members of staff who do not wish to participate in prayers to avoid them without having to excuse themselves.
"Local councils shouldn't be clubs for Christians and unless acts of worship are properly separated from official business, the religious freedom of non-Christians will not be adequately respected.
"Where the formal separation is tokenistic or unclear, and where any Councils are failing in their legal obligations, we will be writing to urge them to ensure that their meetings are both lawful and equally welcoming to all sections of society. Everyone has the right to manifest their religion, but that shouldn't extend to allowing believers to impose acts of worship on those that do not share their faith."
