Newsline 9 September 2016

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The deeply damaging plans announced by the Government to relax admissions rules for faith schools are a terrible blow for social cohesion. At a time when the Government should be doing everything it can to promote an integrated society, it has instead decided to worsen the effects of divisive faith schools.

The Government speaks of the need to foster integration and social cohesion, but by removing the admissions cap that governs faith school admissions they are promoting divisive religious segregation.

We'll be opposing plans to increase religious segregation in schools every step of the way.

What will our society look like in 100 years if we divide generations of children by their parents' religion? The effects of this short-sighted policy will be disastrous. We're trying to stop this from happening, but we need your help.

	NSS calls for rethink over Government plans to relax faith schools admissions rules News \| Fri, 09 Sep 2016 The National Secular Society has urged the Government to rethink plans to allow new faith schools to select all of their pupils on the basis of faith.
	Councils ignoring illegal schools because they “don’t want to upset community relations” News \| Tue, 06 Sep 2016 Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned that local councils and police are continuing to ignore illegal faith schools, undermining efforts to prosecute the operators and protect children's rights.
	Secularism 2016 Conference: Secularism ‘on the frontline of the most important issue of our time’ News \| Wed, 07 Sep 2016 The conference celebrating our 150^th anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on everything the National Secular Society has achieved in 150 years of campaigning, and consider the significant challenges ahead.
	NSS accuses Government of showing contempt for Parliament and UK’s international obligations on caste discrimination News \| Mon, 05 Sep 2016 The NSS has criticised the Government for "stalling" on caste discrimination after it announced plans for a consultation despite already being under an obligation to outlaw such discrimination.
	Sharia divorce better than murdering unwanted wives, says Indian Muslim Law Board News \| Fri, 09 Sep 2016 A group campaigning for gender equality in India has called on the country's Supreme Court to end Muslim Personal Law to protect women from "fundamentalists" operating sharia courts.

NSS Speaks Out

We were quoted by Conatus News on caste discrimination, and the news website also interviewed our president Terry Sanderson.

Quote of the Week

"Nothing in the idea of secularism opposes the practice of Islam in France, provided it respects the law."
François Hollande.

Essays of the Week

Shine a light on the home-school scandal.
Alice Thomson, Times.

The Government should make amends for past delays and implement anti-caste discrimination law now.
Mitchell Bate, Conatus News.

The Islamist war against Sikhs is arriving in Europe.
Hardeep Singh, Spectator.

Secular Social: pay your respects to Bradlaugh

Sat, 17 Sep 2016

Scottish Secular Society - What Does the ‘Post-secular Age’ Mean for Education?

Thu, 03 Nov 2016

International Conference on Freedom of Conscience and Expression in the 21st Century

Sat, 22 Jul 2017

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