MP Letter: Parliamentary Prayers

End Parliamentary Prayers

Prayers are personal and shouldn't be an official part of government business or imposed in meetings.

Please urge your MP to support our campaign to end parliamentary prayers, to make Parliament welcoming to people of all faiths and none.

Hints and tips

- Personalising your letter will make it more likely to have an impact. An introduction about why you are writing to the MP is useful.

- Keep your thoughts fairly brief. MPs are busy and get a lot of correspondence.

- Use clear and simple language.

- If you have an interesting perspective which undermines arguments for privileging religion in parliament, consider sharing it.

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Address:

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Dear {{name}},

I’m writing to ask you to speak out in favour of removing prayers from the official business of parliament.

Our Parliament should be an inclusive and welcoming place for MPs and peers of all religions and beliefs. This principle is incompatible with current parliamentary procedure, with sittings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords beginning with Anglican prayers.

Parliamentary prayers assert the superiority of Christianity, and the Church of England in particular, at Westminster. They are increasingly regarded as anachronistic and alienating; the 2021 census revealed Christians are no longer the majority in England and Wales. It is important that parliament reflects the country as it is today. Religious worship should play no part in the formal business of the state.

In practice, the prayer session serves as an antiquated seat reservation system. During busy sessions, MPs who feel uncomfortable with praying must attend the prayers in order to reserve their place so they can represent their constituents. This is completely inappropriate in a society which respects the principles of equality and of freedom of religion or belief.

Ending parliamentary prayers would set a tangible example of the modernisation which is needed in the House and would represent a positive step towards fairness and freedom of conscience.

I hope you will agree that parliamentary meetings should be conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all parliamentarians, irrespective of their personal religious beliefs.

Please give your support towards ending parliamentary prayers.
For more information, please see https://www.secularism.org.uk/end-government-prayers.

Thank you for your time on this matter. I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

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MP Letter: Parliamentary Prayers

End Parliamentary Prayers

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