We don't think religious worship should play any part in the formal business of the state.
We want to see parliamentary and local government meetings conducted in a manner equally welcoming to all attendees, whatever their personal beliefs.
Parliamentary prayers
Sittings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords begin with Anglican prayers. MPs and peers stand for prayers facing the wall behind them – a practice thought to have developed due to the difficulty members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray while wearing a sword.
When the chamber is at its busiest, parliamentary prayers act as a bizarre and antiquated seat reservation system. Even MPs and peers who are slated to speak have no option but to attend prayers in order to reserve a seat.
Whilst they may be viewed by some as an important tradition, parliamentary prayers serve to assert the superiority of Christianity (and the Church of England in particular) at Westminster. This 'tradition' is inimical to a modern, pluralistic, secular democracy.
In the Scottish Parliament, Tuesday afternoon sessions begin with 'Time for Reflection', with faith and belief representatives invited to addresses members for up to four minutes. The Northern Ireland Assembly begins formal business with a period of two minutes of silent prayer or contemplation. The Welsh Assembly has adopted no such rituals.
Parliamentarians who wish to pray are free to do so. But prayers should not form part of the official business of Parliament.
Council prayers
Many local authorities in Britain also begin their meetings with prayer.
Local democracy should be equally welcoming to all sections of society, regardless of their religion or belief. Council meetings should be conducted without anyone feeling excluded, or compelled to either participate in prayers or absent themselves from part of the meeting.
Council prayers open the door to wholly unnecessary conflict and sectarian squabbles within local authorities. There is a history of local councillors being bullied and marginalised for challenging council prayers.
The absence of prayers from the formal business of meetings in no way impedes religious freedoms or denies anybody the right to pray. Conversely, organised worship in secular settings imposes worship on those who do not share the faith. A genuine commitment to freedom of religion or belief is incompatible with including acts of worship in the formal business of council meetings.
If local authorities wish to hold a moment of silent reflection at the beginning of a meeting, or if councillors wish to meet for prayers prior to the meeting, they are at liberty to do so.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please enter your postcode and urge your MP to support an alternative to parliamentary prayers, to make parliament more welcoming to people of all faiths and none.
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 - for example, if you would like to challenge prayers at your own council.
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
Bideford Council drops appeal over council prayers
Posted: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:19
Bideford Town Council has decided not to appeal the High Court's decision that putting prayers on agendas is unlawful. It was at the centre of the NSS's challenge to prayers as part of council business.
The council agreed by eight votes to five at a meeting last Thursday that it would not accept the indemnity from the Christian Institute to take on the appeal. A council spokesman said that the appeal had the potential to be long and expensive and there was no guarantee that the Christian Institute would be able to cover all costs.
Presumably as a result of an earlier decision by the Council to proceed with an appeal, the High Court had issued a formal notice of appeal that we received last week, together with an inch thick bundle of papers setting out the grounds. The solicitors withdrew their appeal last Friday.
The council has decided to obey the law and has removed prayers from the agenda. They are now said before the official meeting begins.
Former councillor Clive Bone, who fought against the prayers alongside the NSS, said he was happy the Council had decided not to appeal.
Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the NSS, said: "The council's decision is the right one. No-one is stopping them praying – and indeed, we would uphold the right of those who wish to do so at the appropriate time but that time is not during council business.
"Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has issued a number of carefully worded statements that have been interpreted as claiming that he has over-ridden the High Court judgment with the Localism Act, but a careful reading of the statements does not say that. It is for the courts to interpret the law, not Government Ministers - particularly as there is no mention of prayers in the Localism Act, and it was not introduced with the purpose of making prayers during council meetings lawful."
Challenge to council prayers in Scotland
Posted: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:49
The practice of council prayers held by some local authorities in Scotland has now been challenged by the National Secular Society.
Although the High Court case successfully brought by the National Secular Society against Bideford council recently ruled that prayers as a part of official council proceedings were illegal under local government legislation which was brought in by the Conservative government in 1972, this legislation applies only to England and Wales.
The NSS has written to members of Edinburgh City Council, which regularly holds prayers at the commencement of its meetings, to point out that ruling suggests the need for the council to review its practices. It is one of the few councils in Scotland to hold prayers at the start of its meetings. Prayers are not on the agenda or recorded in the minutes but are held after councillors are summoned by a bell to the start of proceedings.
The NSS has urged Edinburgh Council to cease the practice of prayers until it has conducted an official review and determined by debate that it is legal under Scottish law or desirable to continue with the practice.
The letter to councillors points out that while it does not necessarily approve the practice of the Scottish Parliament's weekly Time for Reflection, which involves contributions from many religions and denominations, there is at least a written record of who leads this event in the agenda and the minutes of the proceedings.
It is impossible to tell who leads prayers in Edinburgh Council and which faiths and denominations have been involved since there is no written record. Nor have councillors, so far as is known, ever debated whether the practice should be held or continued.
Commenting on the letter, NSS Council member Norman Bonney stated: "The coming council meeting on 15 March will give councillors an opportunity to discover whether prayers are legally allowed at meetings of the city council and whether they should be discontinued pending a full resolution of the issues involved".
The NSS suggests in its letter that the best solution might be collective silent reflection by all councillors at the start of meetings (on the model of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly) or the complete cessation of the practice of prayers at council meetings.
Norman Bonney added: "Councillors who wish to pray before a meeting can cross the road to St Giles Cathedral or be provided with rooms in City Chambers but the NSS, in line with its policy for the separation of church and state, is opposed to any attempt to impose prayers at public meetings or in the proceedings of public bodies".
