European Court of Justice: Employers can require staff to wear religiously neutral clothing News | Tue, 14 Mar 2017 The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has advised that employers can ask their staff to "dress neutrally" provided rules are consistent and apply to all religious symbols equally.
	MP calls for Scotland to embrace a secular education system News | Mon, 13 Mar 2017 Tommy Sheppard MP has called for Scotland to move towards a secular education system and expressed his hope that secularist campaigners can "chip away" at religion's role in state schools.
	LibDems to debate ending religious discrimination in schools News | Fri, 17 Mar 2017 The National Secular Society has welcomed news that the Liberal Democrats' spring conference will consider the party's policy on taxpayer-funded faith school in England.
	Defending Progressivism conference announced News | Fri, 17 Mar 2017 A conference around the theme of 'defending progressivism' is to be held in London on April 29.
	Christian group warns of “hidden dangers” in challenging homophobia News | Wed, 15 Mar 2017 A fundamentalist group which provides support to Accelerated Christian Education schools in the UK is hosting a discussion on the "dangers" of government efforts to tackle homophobic bullying.
	Police called following disturbance after bookshop accused of throwing away Qurans News | Fri, 17 Mar 2017 Police in Bradford attended the site of a skip near a former bookshop after 'shocked' locals reportedly discovered books, including a Quran, had been thrown away.

	The reality behind the ECJ's so-called 'headscarf ban' The debate on Tuesday's European Court of Justice ruling on the "visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign" is riddled with misinformation. With headlines that scream, "headscarf bans," and the fact that the law in this area is incredibly complex, is it any wonder that many observers are left scratching their heads?
	A Muslim teenager filmed twerking while wearing her headscarf caused a storm of unacceptable intolerance A Muslim girl wearing a headscarf was filmed dancing in the streets of Birmingham, U.K.—twerking, in fact—and the smartphone video soon went viral, viewed over a million times. Ironically, it was popularized in no small part by outraged Muslim men.

NSS Speaks Out

On Sunday Dr Antony Lempert of the Secular Medical Forum spoke to BBC Radio 4 about new guidance for pharmacists. Listen to the interview from 5m 40s here.

The European Court of Justice's guidance on religious symbols in workplaces (and the overblown reaction from some media outlets) made for a busy couple of days. We spoke on this topic to LBC, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Newcastle, BBC Three Counties, Radio 5, Voice of Islam. We were quoted by the Guardian, Conatus News,the Economist, and the Hindustan Times on this subject.

Executive director Keith Porteous Wood appeared on Sky News,Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera to discuss the ruling.

Campaigns director Stephen Evans also spoke to Voice of Islam on the role of secularism in fostering social cohesion.

Communications officer Benjamin Jones was quoted by Verdict.co.uk on the latest Pakistani crackdown against blasphemy on social media.