The UK is one of the last western democracies with a state religion: the Church of England.
The Church's entanglement with the state is bad for both.
Join our campaign to disestablish the Church.
CAMPAIGN ALERT: Support the disestablishment bill
In November 2023, a private member's bill to disestablish the Church of England was selected in the ballot.
Please write to your MP and urge them to support this bill, to make the UK are more equitable and democratic country for people of all religions and beliefs.
Since our founding in 1866, one of our primary objectives has been disestablishment of the Church of England: its formal separation from the state.
More than 150 years later, census figures show most people in England and Wales are not Christian. Surveys consistently reveal a similar picture in Scotland. The case for disestablishment has never been stronger.
Disestablishment means the Church would no longer have privileged input into government - but also that government could not involve itself in the running of the Church. Both sides would gain autonomy. This is why support for Church-state separation can be found within the CofE itself.
There have been many proponents, religious and non-religious, for church-state separation, and there are a wide variety of motivations for supporting this reform.
The existence of a legally-enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment to citizens of all religions and none.
The Church of England has enjoyed significant privileges relating its established status for many centuries. These privileges have remained largely unchanged despite the massive and continuing reduction in support for the Church in the UK. It is highly likely that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, making the Church of England's continuation as the established church unsustainable.
- Christians are a minority in Britain. In Wales and Scotland the majority have no religion.
- Just 1% of 18-24 year olds say they belong to the Church of England.
- Less than 1% of the population regularly attend Church of England church services.
The Church of England is also out of step with the UK public on several key issues: it remains opposed to same-sex relationships and allows parishes to reject women as bishops and priests. These discriminatory positions cannot be reconciled with the Church's status as part of the UK state.
And no institution with the shameful historical record of the Church of England safeguarding and abuse should retain its privileged role in the British establishment.
The existence of a legally enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment of citizens of all religions and none.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support the separation of church and state
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Prayers shouldn’t be part of parliamentary business, say MPs
Posted: Mon, 14 Jan 2019 16:34
MPs have called for an end to the practice of holding prayers in parliament before the start of official business in a motion backed by the National Secular Society.
Conservative MP and NSS honorary associate Crispin Blunt has tabled a motion which says "religious worship should not play any part in the formal business of the House of Commons".
The early day motion, which has cross-party support, says parliamentary meetings "should be conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all attendees, irrespective of their personal beliefs".
It adds that parliamentary prayers are "not compatible with a society which respects the principle of freedom of and from religion".
NSS honorary associates Nia Griffith of Labour and Tommy Sheppard of the SNP, along with Layla Moran of the Liberal Democrats, signed the motion as it was submitted last week.
Early day motions are single-sentence motions which formally call for a debate on a subject at an early opportunity and which MPs are invited to sign.
Sittings in both the House of Commons and the Lords begin with Anglican prayers. In practice, prayers also act as a seat reservation system, meaning MPs and peers who wish to attend or speak in busy sessions often effectively have to attend them.
Explaining his decision to sign the motion, Tommy Sheppard told the NSS: "Parliamentary prayers is one of many archaic Westminster procedures that is long overdue a rethink. The current system completely ignores that MPs, and society as a whole, come from all faiths and none.
"We need to review how we start our day here in parliament to ensure it's inclusive and accessible for all."
Crispin Blunt said: "Whilst religious worship occupies a strong part in some people's lives, it should no longer play a role in the way we conduct our political affairs as an independent, open and diverse nation.
"In 2019 parliamentary prayers for most MPs are the price paid to reserve a favourite place on the green benches for the day. There are plenty of opportunities to pray voluntarily.
"Parliament and political thinking must be free in order to remain independent. Indeed this early day motion calls simply for a tolerant democracy that treats all belief systems alike."
The NSS has written to the Commons procedure committee to ask it to consider the issue. The society is also encouraging supporters to write to their MPs to urge them to sign the motion.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Religious worship is for individuals who choose it – not for nations or legislative bodies.
"Members of parliament are of course free to pray in their own time, but institutionalised prayer doesn't belong in the legislative process. Parliament should reflect the country as it is today.
"Ending this anachronism would be tangible example of the reform needed in the house and represent a positive step forwards for modernity, equality and freedom of conscience."
The NSS campaigns for an end to official government prayers both in parliament and in local councils.
The motion in full reads:
"That this house recognises that religious worship should not play any part in the formal business of the House of Commons; believes that parliamentary meetings should be conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all attendees, irrespective of their personal beliefs; further believes that parliamentary prayers are not compatible with a society which respects the principle of freedom of and from religion; urges that prayers should not form part of the official business of parliament; and calls on the procedure committee to consider alternative arrangements."
UPDATE (May 2019): In a response to the NSS's letter Charles Walker, the chair of the procedure committee, said he was "content to discuss" the proposal with the committee "once we have disposed of currently pressing business".
Just a third of public supports royal ties with CoE, NSS poll finds
Posted: Fri, 4 Jan 2019 07:00
Only a third of the UK public thinks the monarchy's ties to the Church of England should remain intact, according to a poll conducted exclusively for the National Secular Society.
The survey, by Censuswide, revealed that just 34% of people think future British monarchs should keep the title of supreme governor of the Church of England.
Only 34% think future British monarchs should be required to be members of the C of E. Thirty-five per cent think future British monarchs should be required to swear a religious oath to maintain the C of E as the state church.
On all three questions which the pollsters asked more people said they supported change than the status quo.
In response the NSS has called for the laws that bind the monarchy to the Church of England to be scrapped.
The monarch is legally required to be in communion with the Church of England under the 1701 Act of Settlement and to swear three oaths. These involve agreeing to uphold the C of E's privileges, along with agreeing to be a Protestant and to uphold the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Catholics are explicitly barred from succeeding to the throne, despite a relatively minor reform in 2013 which removed a bar on those who marry Catholics from the succession. In 2018 Princess Alexandra of Hanover, a member of the royal family of Monaco, lost her place in the British line of succession after becoming a Catholic.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said future heads of state should be allowed to make decisions on their religious affiliations for themselves and the ties between church and monarchy should be scrapped.
"With around half the population now having no religious affiliation – and significant numbers belonging to non-Christian faiths – it is no surprise that the public does not generally support laws that bind the monarchy to the Church of England.
"As things stand, when Prince Charles becomes King he will be required to promise to uphold the rights and privileges of the Church of England. In modern Britain no religious beliefs or affiliations should hold privilege or priority over any other. The longstanding laws that bind the monarchy to the Church of England are at odds with modern day Britain's values and should be addressed.
"Allowing heads of state freedom of and from religion would send a strong message that the UK intends to become a more secular, democratic country which respects everyone's freedom of and from religion within an equally-applied law."
In May 2018 the UK's leading research centre on constitutional change, the UCL's Constitution Unit, said religious oaths should be revised or dropped altogether from the UK's next coronation service. The unit called for a "radical reformulation" of the monarch's oaths, with the new oaths focused on the United Kingdom, the constitution and its laws and the monarch's duty to the people.
The unit also said a civil coronation ceremony should be held alongside the traditional Anglican one.
The findings come amid an overall decline in the religiosity of the British public. In September 2018, the British Social Attitudes Survey found that 52% of people were non-religious. Just 14% of people described themselves as Anglicans.
The NSS has campaigned for the disestablishment of the church since its founding in 1866.
In December 2017 the society outlined the case for change in a major report, Separating Church And State: The Case for Disestablishment. The report said the accession of Prince Charles to the throne would be a "particularly opportune moment" to press the benefits of separating church and state.
The government recently dismissed the idea of amending the Coronation Oath Act of 1688 during a debate in the House of Lords. It also said it had made no assessment of the case for the disestablishment of the Church of England.
Censuswide surveyed a representative sample of 2,000 adults across the UK.
