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
Most Britons support key secularist principles, says Pew research
Posted: Thu, 1 Nov 2018 11:34
Britons convincingly support several important secularist principles but a significant minority of them have attitudes unwelcoming of religious minorities, a new study has suggested.
A report published by the internationally-respected Pew Research Center on Monday said 65% of British adults think it is not important to be Christian to be truly British. Thirty-four per cent disagree.
The study, which incorporated various figures on attitudes to religion from 34 European countries, also revealed that people across the continent are largely united in support of the separation of church and state. In 31 of the countries surveyed at least 50% of people said "religion should be kept separate from government policies".
Pew reiterated its previous finding that 60% of British adults believe this, while just 38% think "government should support religious values and beliefs". The NSS reported these figures earlier this year.
Ninety-two per cent of people think it is very or somewhat important to respect British "institutions/laws" to be truly British.
The survey also suggested Britons are largely disinterested in religion. Just 10% of respondents said religion was "very important in their lives". Six per cent prayed daily. Twenty per cent attended religious services at least once a month.
But the figures also suggested substantial proportions of Britons have attitudes unwelcoming of religious minorities. Just 53% of non-Muslims said they would be willing to accept Muslims into their families. Sixty-nine per cent of non-Jewish people said the same about Jews.
National Secular Society CEO Stephen Evans said the research highlighted "more evidence that secularist principles enjoy broad support in the UK". But he added that the "significant level" of mistrust in religious minorities was "a cause for concern".
"It is encouraging to see that most Britons are keen to separate religion from public policy and do not see religious identity as a barrier to Britishness.
"But the government should take note of the alarming level of mistrust between different religious groups in the UK. The way to improve these numbers is to promote common citizenship where religion is a private detail rather than a reason for the state to treat people differently.
"Treating Britons as members of competing identity groups based on religion has fuelled social segregation and encouraged unpleasant attitudes to foment.
"An obvious place to begin addressing this is in schools. Rolling back state-funded faith schools and educating children together would be an important step which would encourage social harmony over the long term."
The NSS campaigns on several of the issues raised in the survey, including the disestablishment of the Church of England and the protection of the principle of one law for all.
Last year a YouGov poll for The Times found that 65% of British adults thought political figures should keep their religious beliefs cordoned off from their decision making. In that survey just 14% said the opposite.
Pew's figures revealed substantial social divides between western and eastern Europe. Western Europeans were more supportive of church-state separation than eastern Europeans.
In almost every central and eastern European country surveyed, fewer than half of respondents said they would be willing to accept Muslims as members of their family. Croatia was the only exception. The opposite was true in every western European country except Italy.
In western Europe most people did not think it was important to be Christian to truly share their national identity. In most eastern European countries the figures suggested the opposite.
Princess removed from line of succession for being Catholic
Posted: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 16:35
The National Secular Society has said a Catholic princess's removal from the line of succession to the throne is "a reminder that Britain needs a secular head of state".
Princess Alexandra of Hanover, a member of the royal family of Monaco, has lost her claim to succeed the queen after deciding to become a Catholic, according to reports in recent days.
Catholics have been barred from the English throne since the Act of Settlement of 1701. The act was passed amid Protestant concern at the fact the son of the Catholic James II was next in line to the throne.
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 explicitly says Catholics are "deemed to be dead" in terms of the succession. The act changed the succession rules but only allowed those who marry Catholics to assume the throne, rather than Catholics themselves.
The monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England and is legally required to "join in communion" with the C of E.
NSS spokesperson Chris Sloggett called the decision on Princess Alexandra "a reminder of the unjustifiable ties between the royal family and the Church of England and a reminder that Britain needs a secular head of state".
"The requirement for the head of state to lead the Church of England is divisive and exclusionary. It reinforces the highly dubious notion that the C of E is the moral leadership of Britain – a notion shown to be wrong by figures on religious affiliation and the church's awful conduct on issues such as child abuse.
"In this case it was highly unlikely that Alexandra would ever have become queen of England. But the same principle would have applied if she had been next in line to the throne.
"Religion should be a private matter. Nobody should be barred from leading our country on the grounds of their religious orientation or lack of it."
Last year the NSS's report Separating Church and State: The Case for Disestablishment made the case for severing the constitutional ties between the monarchy and the Church of England. The report also said Prince Charles's accession could offer a "particularly opportune moment" to make the case for the disestablishment of the C of E.
It is unclear exactly where in the line of succession Alexandra stood. She was not named on the website of the British monarchy, which lists the first 17 people in line. She remains 12th in line to the throne of Monaco.
The last person to be excluded from the line of succession for being a Catholic was Lord Nicholas Windsor, George V's grandson, who was received into the Catholic Church in 2001.
Earlier this year Meghan Markle underwent baptism and confirmation in to the Church of England before her marriage to Prince Harry, reportedly to please the queen.
Earlier this year two reports from University College London's constitution unit called for the role of Anglicanism to be diluted in the next coronation. A monarch is currently required to swear three religious oaths on assuming the throne.
Image: Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, via Wikimedia Commons, © Sodacan [CC BY-SA 3.0]
