Tags: Politics
Beware moving election dates for religious reasons
Posted: Wed, 04 Sep 2019 by Chris Sloggett
The proposed date for a general election has moved to accommodate a Jewish festival. Chris Sloggett asks whether the government has weighed up all competing considerations before reaching this decision. Read More »
Religion and politics – the discrepancy at the heart of our schools
Posted: Tue, 12 Jun 2018 by Alastair Lichten
Schools are forbidden from promoting, showing favouritism to or discriminating on the grounds of partisan politics. Alastair Lichten asks why partisan religious beliefs are treated so differently.
Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 (applying to... Read More »
Was Tim Farron a secularist?
Posted: Thu, 15 Jun 2017 by Terry Sanderson
Tim Farron was a classic secularist, but found himself unable to reconcile his personal faith and his party's socially liberal positions and made his own choice, argues Terry Sanderson.
So, does the former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron now join the ranks of the... Read More »
What happens next? Some thoughts on the election and the challenges to come
Posted: Fri, 09 Jun 2017 by National Secular Society
The dust is beginning to settle. Whether you're delighted, dismayed or just surprised by last night's results there are challenges and opportunities to come.
Whatever your party political views, there are principles that we can all support: the triumph of secular... Read More »
What do the main parties have to say on secular issues?
Posted: Thu, 18 May 2017 by National Secular Society
The Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have all released their manifestos for the General Election. Read our analysis of what they say on issues from equality to human rights, Islamist extremism and education.
We'll continue to update this article... Read More »
CofE talks to the electorate, but is anyone listening?
Posted: Mon, 08 May 2017 by Terry Sanderson
Religious leaders are free to speak out on politics, but they shouldn't expect their views to be given any special weight, and politicians shouldn't assume that clerics speak for anyone but themselves, argues Terry Sanderson.
The Church of England has published... Read More »
As a nation we’re thinking about our future, here’s our secular manifesto for change
Posted: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 by National Secular Society
Ahead of the General Election we're calling on political parties to embrace a series of secular reforms, drawn from our recently published secular manifesto, that make society, our education system, and the law fairer for all.
As electioneering gets into full... Read More »
Prime Minister and CofE promote fake ‘war on Easter’
Posted: Tue, 04 Apr 2017 by Terry Sanderson
After several media outlets falsely claimed that the National Trust and Cadbury were 'airbrushing' Easter out of their Easter egg hunt, Terry Sanderson argues that the Prime Minister's involvement in this trumped-up propaganda exercise was the real disgrace.... Read More »
A faith-based education system is deeply inefficient
Posted: Tue, 07 Mar 2017 by Benjamin Jones
Both the Government and the Labour Party have wilful blind spots around faith schools, and as the Government looks set to launch a new wave of faith schools amid an education funding crisis, how can such an inefficient system be justified?
The Prime Minister... Read More »
Britain’s ‘Christian right’: seeking solace in a narrative of discrimination
Posted: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 by Prof. Steven Kettell
The 'Christian right' in the UK may not be anywhere near as powerful as its US counterpart, but it still tries to exert influence on public policy. This has become increasingly difficult as fewer Britons identify themselves as Christian. Steven Kettell finds... Read More »
Church of England bishops are more elitist than David Cameron’s cabinet
Posted: Tue, 05 Apr 2016 by Ed Moore
A small, almost entirely Oxbridge-educated elite are given automatic seats in Parliament. How do we allow this to continue, asks Ed Moore.
In 2015 a widely debated report from the Sutton Trust pointed out just how many of David Cameron's new Conservative cabinet... Read More »
Minister’s claim that secularism pushes Muslims towards ISIS is a shameless attempt to advance Christian privilege
Posted: Wed, 09 Dec 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Stephen Crabb MP, the Secretary of State for Wales, has said that secularism and "creeping intolerance" of religion "risks pushing more young Muslims into the arms of Isil". Benjamin Jones responds, debunking his nonsensical claims.
In the latest misleading... Read More »
We need a Robert Conquest figure to demolish the pro-Islamist left
Posted: Thu, 06 Aug 2015 by Benjamin Jones
The late historian Robert Conquest exposed the true horror of Stalinism; and the 21st century badly needs a similar expose to break the pro-Islamist left away from their cruel sympathy with another totalitarian system, argues Benjamin Jones.
Robert Conquest,... Read More »
‘Spiritual influence’, democracy and free expression
Posted: Tue, 19 May 2015 by Alastair Lichten
Religious voting blocs and sectarian and divisive politics harm society and can undermine democracy. But are laws that potentially restrict free expression the answer? Alastair Lichten considers the charge of 'undue spiritual influence'.
Many student unions... Read More »
After initial crisis, nation struggles on without Minister for Faith
Posted: Thu, 14 May 2015 by Benjamin Jones
After initial panic and a constitutional and political crisis, the country is struggling on without a Minister for Faith. Benjamin Jones lambasts the Prime Minister for leaving this crucial role unfilled for so long.
While the Prime Minister set about appointing... Read More »
Most Britons aren’t religious- but are religious ‘voting blocs’ wielding increasing power in our elections?
Posted: Wed, 06 May 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Religious leaders are wielding disproportionate influence in this election. Benjamin Jones argues that this is likely to get worse, and politicians should resist the urge to treat religious people as blocs.
While the religious are declining as a share of the... Read More »
What do the minor parties have to say about secularism and religion?
Posted: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 by Benjamin Jones
From the Wessex Regionalists to the Christian People's Alliance, the NSS presents some highlights on secularism and religion from the minor parties' manifestos.
Which party wants to place unicorns on a list of protected animals? Who wants to give married couples... Read More »
Election 2015: Where the parties stand on secularist issues
Posted: Thu, 16 Apr 2015 by National Secular Society
Find out where the parties stand on collective worship, faith schools, multiculturalism, sex and relationships education, religion in society and a range of other secular issues.
While the National Secular Society is not party political, that doesn't stop us... Read More »
Tower Hamlets and the Dangers of Communal Politics
Posted: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 by Rumy Hasan
Last week, the accountancy firm PwC, in its audit of Tower Hamlets Council and its Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, catalogued very serious failings. The case sheds light on a troubling phenomenon: communal politics. We are well aware of the divisive, sectarian politics... Read More »
New data revealed on 2015 voting intentions of non-believers
Posted: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 by Benjamin Jones
The British Election Study has shed new light on the voting intentions of non-believers, and highlighted the power of religious minorities to shape elections in the future. Benjamin Jones explores how atheists, agnostics and the irreligious plan to vote in... Read More »
Miliband should keep his party away from priests
Posted: Wed, 03 Apr 2013 by Richard Heller
Amid his spectacular enthronement, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, managed to say something spectacularly wrong. "There can be no final justice or security or love or hope in our society if it is not finally based on rootedness in Christ."... Read More »
An important lesson that politicians can learn from the American election
Posted: Wed, 07 Nov 2012 by Stephen Evans
"The Religious Right is dead" announced the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday morning after the defeat of the Republican Party in the US election.
The headline was over a blog by the paper's rather wacky blogs editor Damian Thompson, but Mr Thompson seems to be... Read More »
We’re not in Kansas now: why targeting the “faith vote” is a hopeless cause in Britain
Posted: Tue, 30 Oct 2012 by Terry Sanderson
The latest polls in Corby, Northamptonshire, where a parliamentary by-election is due to take place on November 15, seem to indicate that the Tories are facing a heavy defeat.
Despite this, according to the Conservative Home website, the Tories will take the... Read More »
The Tories will be watching how Republican’s religion-in-politics tactic plays
Posted: Fri, 02 Mar 2012 by Terry Sanderson
The race for the Republican Party's Presidential nomination in the USA is turning into a religious farce. As Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich slug it out to become top dog, each tries to out-religion the other.
Romney is a Mormon, something that... Read More »
