News
MP for West Lancashire supports religious discrimination in school transport
Rosie Cooper, Labour MP forWest Lancashire, says that Lancashire County Council’s decision to cut transport subsidies for pupils at religious schools is an attack on parents’ right to choose a religion-based education for their children. Read More »
Non-religious girl may have to leave Brownies because of religious oath
Seven-year old Maddie Willett is in the Brownies, and she really likes it. But now her membership is threatened because... Read More »
New guidelines make it harder for pharmacists to impose their religion at the chemists
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has issued new regulations about chemists who refuse to supply the “morning after” contraceptive pill or other forms of contraception or drugs required for IVF because of their “religious conscience.” Read More »
NSS to intervene in European court in groundbreaking appeal cases
The National Secular Society has been given leave by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to intervene as a third party in four controversial religious rights cases being appealed at Strasbourg. Read More »
How many times can these Christian "victims" cry wolf before people ignore them?
It’s a case of Onward Christian Soldiers this week as ever-more feeble claims of religious discrimination are concocted and brought to public attention. Read More »
Demand for religious parking privileges in West End fails
Prior to a debate at Westminster Council this week about extending parking restrictions to cover Sunday afternoons, theNational Secular Societyreminded the Council that any attempt to give exemptions to religious groups would be illegal under equality legislation. Read More »
Council prayers unconstitutional, rules US court
A federal appellate court has struck down aNorthCarolinacounty’s policy of opening board meetings with sectarian prayers. Read More »
Battles over subsidised transport to faith schools rages all over the country
Efforts by local authorities to cut their budgets have led many of them to reconsider the huge amounts of money they put into subsidising transport for children travelling long distances to “faith schools”. Read More »
Government ditches inquiry into sharia councils in Britain
A Ministry of Justice inquiry into the operation of sharia councils in Britain has been abandoned because the people who operate the “courts” are unwilling to co-operate. Read More »
Despite advances, religion still threatens the rights of lesbian and gay people in America
Isolation, intimidation and violent abuse are a fact of life for a large proportion of young LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) people in America today. Read More »
Polygamous marriages won’t be recognised, say Government – but some already are
After the leaking of a Government document that suggested that multiple Islamic marriages could be officially recorded by the state, Ministers have made clear that no such plans are in train. Read More »
MPs withdraw support for “Christian martyrs” case
Two Liberal Democrat MPs have withdrawn their names from an Early Day Motion which supports the move by Christian activists to persuade the European Court of Human Rights to give them special privileges at work. Read More »
Even the Church of England knows that collective worship in schools is unjustifiable
The debate last week in the House of Lords in which NSS-instigated amendments on Collective Worship were considered certainly got under the skin of the Church of England’s hierarchy. Read More »
Evangelical group made children “eat their sins”
The NSS has been receiving emails recently from parents telling of extreme evangelical groups being invited into their children’s schools. Read More »
Proponents of religious schools in South West London wear down the opposition
A community primary school in Kingston upon Thames will assume a religious character in September when it enters a two year “loose-partnership” with a local Church of England school Read More »
French alarm over threats to separation of church and state
The French Libre Pensée (a republican secularist group with which the NSS has links) is expressing alarm over new threats to the law of 1905 which separates religion from the state. Read More »
Prayers at council meeting are ‘not religious’, says council chair
A local councillor from Cirencester in Gloucestershire has called on Cotswold District Council to scrap prayers at the beginning of council meetings. Read More »
Prayers at council meeting are ‘not religious’, says council chair
A local councillor from Cirencester in Gloucestershire has called on Cotswold District Council to scrap prayers at the beginning of council meetings. Read More »
The Charitable Chaplaincy Campaign in Wales
NSS Volunteer Alan Rogers explains the campaign to relieve Welsh hospitals of the cost of chaplains Read More »
Women’s health under threat from doctors’ conscientious objections
When religion and medicine clash, it is often women who suffer most. A survey shows that an increasing number of medical students think doctors should be able to refuse any procedure that is against their beliefs. The procedure that causes the most contention is, as always, abortion. Read More »
Catholic child abuse scandals boil around the world
Another priest has been arrested In Germany — where the pope is due to make a controversial visit in September — and has admitted sexually abusing three boys over the past four years. Read More »
Is this the first step to Ireland becoming a secular Republic?
While Britain was distracted by the drama of the phone hacking revelations, in the Irish parliament something even more sensational was happening. Read More »
Bath council puts itself in debt to provide a “Christian sixth form”
Bath and North East Somerset Council has agreed to fund a new Christian sixth form in Bath which will involve it borrowing £2 million. Read More »
Challenge to collective worship law in Lords
The most comprehensive debate on collective worship in England for many years took place this week in the House of Lords. Peers were debating amendments to the Education Bill relating to collective worship, most of which were tabled by Lord Avebury at the request of the NSS. Read More »
Council proposes to force children into faith schools
The NSS has backed a local campaign to challenge Isle of Wight Council, who are proposing to close the only non-religious school on the West of the Isle of Wight. Under the Council’s current plans, two local faith schools would remain open. Read More »
