Newsline 17 June 2016

Newsline 17 June 2016

This week we have launched our 150th Anniversary Appeal to help celebrate and mark 150 years of the National Secular Society. We receive no public funding whatsoever and rely entirely on the generous donations of our members and supporters. By donating to our appeal, you can help us commemorate our founder Charles Bradlaugh with a portrait bust, to be displayed prominently in the Houses of Parliament, and ensure that we have the tools we need to meet the challenges of campaigning for secular reform in the UK.

If you believe that a secular Britain is our best chance to achieve true equality for all citizens then please join us today if you are not a member already, donate to our Anniversary Appeal, and don't forget to buy your ticket for our upcoming conference!

News, Blogs & Opinion

Help celebrate our 150th anniversary and support our appeal!

News | Wed, 15th Jun 2016

The National Secular Society has launched a new anniversary appeal to help commemorate NSS founder Charles Bradlaugh, celebrate the Society's 150th anniversary and support its campaign work.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said the tasks of campaigning for a secular state were "becoming more demanding" and that the Society needs to be "as well-resourced as possible."

"To better equip us for the growing challenges of the future we are launching a 150th anniversary appeal with a target of £200,000.

"In order to maintain our independence we do not receive, nor do we seek, public funds. We rely entirely on contributions from you, our members and supporters. You are the NSS.

"Help us achieve our ambitions for a bigger and more influential NSS in the future."

The appeal will go towards commemorating the founder of the National Secular Society, Charles Bradlaugh, who will be honoured in parliament by a portrait bust which will be unveiled later this year, and to the Society's 'Secularism 2016' conference in September.

In a letter to the Society's members, Mr Sanderson wrote: "We want to ensure that Bradlaugh – one of the most effective politicians of the 19th century – is not forgotten, particularly in the parliament that he struggled so hard to be part of. We have, therefore, commissioned a life-sized portrait bust of the great man.

"And the exciting news is that Parliament has agreed to give it a prominent place in the Palace of Westminster where it will serve as a reminder of Bradlaugh's fantastic contribution.

"He was elected as Member of Parliament for Northampton in 1880, but it was only after a momentous struggle against the religious establishment that he was able to take his seat in 1885. He subsequently became widely known as a social reformer and for his work on the Oaths Act. It is thanks to Bradlaugh that MPs can affirm in Parliament today.

"The life size bust will be prominently displayed in a public area of Parliament as part of its permanent collection and can be used as the focus of education about Bradlaugh and secularism."

In addition to the commemoration and bust of Charles Bradlaugh, remaining money from the fund will go towards supporting NSS campaigns for an inclusive, secular education and to supporting our national and international work.

Mr Sanderson continued: "We remain very active both in the UK and internationally, including at the United Nations – where we have recently been recommended for consultative status – working towards a society where religion and state are separate and in which all citizens, regardless of religious belief, or lack of religious belief, can live together fairly and cohesively."

Donate to the National Secular Society's 150th anniversary fundraising appeal.

Church ‘using academisation to increase religious influence in schools’

News | Fri, 17th Jun 2016

The National Secular Society has written to the Department for Education over concerns that the Church of England is using academisation to strengthen its influence in schools – over the objections of school governors.

Fresh concerns were prompted after the Diocese of Winchester announced that all its voluntary controlled (VC) schools had to join the Diocese's academy chain when the schools become academies, dramatically increasing the power of the Church over the schools.

The VC schools are to be prevented from joining any other academy chain and must sign up to the Diocese's "King Alfred Trust" even though the governors of one affected school are "unanimously" opposed "as they feel it will erase the distinction between VC and Voluntary Aided schools."

Voluntary controlled schools are generally considered to be less explicitly religious than voluntary aided (VA) schools. In VA schools, a majority of the governing body is appointed by the church to maintain "the Church of England character of the school."

In contrast, the church-appointed governors of a VC school are in a minority.

The loss of this distinction as VC schools convert to become academies has prompted "utter outrage" among headteachers of affected schools.

One headteacher told the National Secular Society that other headteachers of church schools are "furious that their schools are to be handed over en masse to the Diocese" and that no other conversion options will be considered.

The NSS wrote to the Department for Education, "In Hampshire approximately 60% of schools with a religious ethos are VC. If these plans go through, 73 schools who currently have a minority of church appointed governors will suddenly find themselves under the direct control of the Diocese."

A similar situation has occurred in Norwich, where the Diocese has stated VC schools will be required to "adopt a VA model of governance before being admitted to the Trust".

The National Secular Society told schools minister Lord Nash: "The NSS regularly receives contact from governors and staff at church schools who feel under pressure to replace the 'light touch' faith ethos they may feel is more appropriate to their school community with a more explicit ethos.

"We are also hearing from parents and staff at church schools concerned that academisation will lead to their diocese imposing a more rigorous religious ethos."

Given the volume of recent examples, the Society said it expected dicoeses to "routinely misuse" powers in an agreement between churches and the Government to block VC schools from choosing what multi-academy trust to join, in order to advance the church's "control and other policy aims."

It is a long-established principle "that the boards of VC schools are not wholly dominated by the Church," the Society wrote.

The NSS has now called on the DfE to require VC schools converting to academy status to maintain the balance of governors appointed by the Church and by other sources.

Stephen Evans, the campaigns director of the National Secular Society said of the plans: "The influence of the church in VC schools has traditionally been limited, but it's becoming increasingly clear that academisation is paving the way for the Church to strengthen its control over state education.

"With around a million pupils attending church schools, it will be a concern to many parents that the education they receive is increasingly being controlled by clerics.

"As the population drifts away from the church, the church is unabashedly looking to taxpayer funded schools to act as its pulpit, and many church schools converting to academy status and joining diocesan trusts may soon be asserting a much stronger 'Christian ethos' than they have done previously. This stands to benefit the Church, but not the local communities, parents and pupils that publicly-funded schools are supposed to serve."

Open letter to Education Secretary: Government must respect children’s rights and abolish collective worship requirement

News | Fri, 17th Jun 2016

Thirty campaigners, including academics, MPs, peers, faith groups and educators, have called on the Government to abolish the law requiring Christian worship in English schools, following criticism of the practice from the UN.

The signatories to the letter, organised by the National Secular Society, include Ted Cantle, who warned over a decade ago that religious and ethnic communities in Britain were living "parallel lives", Paul Rowe, the CEO of Educate Together, Caroline Lucas MP, historian Dan Snow, Professor AC Grayling and a range of educators concerned about the imposition of Christian worship on pupils.

"There is a growing consensus," the signatories say, that collective worship in schools should be abolished.

Current law fails to reflect children's Human Rights, the letter adds.

The letter follows a recommendation from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that pupils be given an independent right to withdraw themselves from religious worship held in schools.

The UN said it was "concerned" that UK law required pupils to take part in worship and that they couldn't opt themselves out.

In a recommendation to the UK government, the Committee said that action should be taken to "repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious worship at school."

Open letter to Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Education

Dear Ms Morgan,

There is a growing consensus among educators, academics, parents and pupils that the law requiring the provision of 'broadly Christian' worship in English schools should be abolished.

Last week the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child became the latest body to recommend that the UK repeal legal provisions for compulsory collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw.

This echoes the recommendations of a study by the former Education Secretary Charles Clarke and professor of sociology of religion at Lancaster University, Linda Woodhead, which similarly concluded that the current requirement should be abolished.

The 70-year-old statute on collective worship was drawn up before any human rights charters and fails to recognise that pupils have human rights too.

Inclusive assemblies can play an important role in fostering a sense of community in schools. Assemblies with an ethical dimension can promote shared values and aid pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Acts of religious worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these valid educational goals.

The law mandating worship in schools is an anachronism; the legacy of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. It is also deeply unpopular, widely flouted and wholly incompatible with a genuine commitment to religious freedom.

We therefore urge you to implement the recommendation of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child and repeal legal provisions for collective worship and ensure that pupils can independently exercise the right to withdraw from any acts of worship that are held in schools.


Professor Peter Atkins
Jonathan Bartley, Director, Ekklesia
Ted Cantle CBE, Director the iCoCo Foundation
Lord Cashman
Nemu Chandaria OBE, Chairman Institute of Jainology
Tim Farron MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Dr Rob Freathy, Associate professor of history of education, University of Exeter
Lord Garel-Jones
Professor A C Grayling
Lord Harrison
Virginia Ironside
Tehmina Kazi, British Muslims for Secular Democracy
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
Caroline Lucas MP, Green Party
Derek McAuley, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Neil McKain, Head of religious studies
Maajid Nawaz, founding chairman of Quilliam
Pragna Patel, Director Southall Black Sisters
Paul Rowe, CEO Educate Together
Martin Rowson
Aliyah Saleem, Co-founder of 'Faith to Faithless'
Alom Shaha, Teacher and science communicator
Terry Sanderson, President, National Secular Society
Joan Smith
Dan Snow
Peter Tatchell
Lord Taverne QC
Lord Warner
Dr Jacqueline Watson, School of education and lifelong learning University of East Anglia
Baroness Young of Hornsey
Dr Rumy Hasan, University of Sussex

Inclusive schools needed to tackle radicalisation, says European Commission

News | Thu, 16th Jun 2016

The European Commission has called for inclusive education to help tackle radicalisation across the continent.

Preventing radicalisation must include the promotion of "an inclusive, open and resilient society and reaching out to young people," the Commission said, while presenting its work on further steps the EU can take to help national governments counter radicalisation.

"In the long run, high quality education from pre-school onwards remains the best safety net against social exclusion, which can be for some a factor in radicalisation."

While Members States assume primary responsibility for countering radicalisation which leads to violent extremism, the Commission said that the "EU has a supporting role to play not least because the similar nature of the challenges faced by Member States, and the scale and interconnected nature of the problem".

"Schools have a key role in fostering inclusion and, as core parts of communities, work closely with parents and local associations. Regular contacts with representatives of civil society and role models can make a difference in motivating young people and preventing them from drifting to the margins of society."

The Commission also said that "transmitting" common European values to young people was "critical" in preventing radicalisation.

At a meeting of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2015, the NSS called for integrated schools that promoted common citizenship.

NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans commented: "There's an overwhelming case in favour of an inclusive model of education that promotes shared values rather than one organised around religious identities. Reducing religious segregation in our school system should be an urgent priority.

"Even if this separatism in education is only a partial cause of radicalisation, it is fostering the creation of a fragmented society that can only be storing up problems for the future."

Teachers were key to detecting early signs of radicalisation in pupils, the Commission said, something which the UK government has stressed with the Prevent strategy.

First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said: "Recent terrorist attacks have shown how some young Europeans have fallen prey to an ideology of death and destruction, breaking away from their own families and friends and turning against their own societies. This calls for a determined response by society as a whole, to prevent radicalisation and strengthen the ties that bind us together. The EU should help wherever it can."

In addition to sharing good practice on education among Member States, the Commission, in presenting further steps to help Member States combat radicalisation, stressed the need for EU support for work on research on radicalisation, countering hate speech and addressing radicalisation in prisoners.

The United Nations recently criticised Northern Ireland's failure to tackle segregation of schools by religion and called on it to "actively promote a fully integrated education system and carefully monitor the provision of shared education, with the participation of children, in order to ensure that it facilitates social integration".

The Committee on the Rights of the Child also called on the UK Government to repeal the legal requirement for an act of broadly Christian worship in schools.

Read the European Commission's communication on supporting the prevention of radicalisation leading to violent extremism

Scottish Anglicans move towards religious same-sex marriage

News | Wed, 15th Jun 2016

The Scottish Episcopal Church has paved the way towards allowing gay marriage, raising the prospect of a clash with the Church of England.

The Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC), in effect the autonomous Scottish arm of the Anglican church, voted in its synod on 10 June to put on the agenda of its synod next year a vote to change its canon 'law' to permit same sex religious marriage.

Around 70% of bishops and clergy and 80% of laity voted in favour, well beyond the two thirds' thresholds needed to make the formal change. Conscience clauses would protect clergy from officiating against their will.

Same-sex marriages in Scotland and England and Wales have been on the statute book since 2014, but no institutional church in the UK, apart from the Quakers and Unitarians, has yet opted to permit same-sex religious marriages that would contemporaneously be civil marriages. The SEC, which has been liberal on matters of sexuality for at least ten years, looks set to become the first to opt in.

The SEC is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, an overwhelming proportion of whose members, especially in Africa, reject any doctrinal liberalisation on homosexuality, far less same-sex religious marriage. At the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the American Episcopal Church is limiting its participation in the global organisation of the Communion for the next three years as a consequence of permitting same-sex marriage. He has reportedly stated that the Scottish Episcopalians can expect similar consequences, which a senior Episcopalian bishop described as being taken to make "it possible for [the Archbishop's] leadership to hold the Anglican Communion together".

Keith Porteous Wood, the NSS Executive Director commented: "Given the strength of the vote taken in full knowledge of the disapproval it would cause, ratification next year seems all-but certain. This will put pressure on other denominations to follow suit, particularly those where a majority of laity favour same sex religious marriage. Ironically, this includes the Archbishop's own church, the Church of England."

NSS Speaks Out

We have been quoted by the BBC on moves towards allowing religious same-sex marriage by the Scottish Episcopal Church, in Polish newspapers on the EU Commission's 'hate speech' agreement with social media companies, in Christian Daily on compulsory worship in schools and in the local Milton Keynes paper on why inclusive, non-religious schools are a better alternative than religious schools. We also spoke on the Voice of Islam radio station about face veils.