July 26th, 2017
The Government may have dropped its proposals for a crackdown on harmful religious supplementary schools, which would have also covered illegal schools, following pressure from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Church of England, it has been reported. In November 2015 the Government proposed to tighten the regulation of ‘out-of-school education settings’ in […]
July 23rd, 2017
Ministers may be reconsidering controversial proposals to allow new state-funded religious schools to become fully segregated along religious lines, according to Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman, who has stated that ‘admission 100% on faith leads to increased levels of segregation within communities’. Humanists UK, which campaigns in favour of fully inclusive schools and has been […]
July 21st, 2017
NHS England has announced that it wants to cease funding homeopathic remedies and other treatments proven to have no efficacy, and has launched a consultation on the matter. The announcement is warmly greeted by Humanists UK, which has campaigned for an end to state funding of homeopathy for many years. In announcing the historic change […]
July 21st, 2017
Recent tragedies in London and Manchester have touched everybody and prompted tremendous acts of kindness, compassion, and humanity, both from emergency and public service workers and members of the public, and often through the charity sector. Prompted by recent events, Humanists UK has decided to carry out a review of the support it provides, including […]
July 20th, 2017
Humanists UK member Noel Conway’s claim for an assisted death has been heard by the High Court. The hearing came to an end today, after four days of submissions from his lawyers and from Humanists UK, who intervened in the case in his support. Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented, ‘The hearing in Noel’s […]
July 19th, 2017
A humanist parent in Wales is to challenge Vale of Glamorgan Council at the High Court in Cardiff over its decision to exclude a humanist representative from the local body responsible for overseeing religious education (RE) in the area. Kathy Riddick, who is also the Coordinator of Wales Humanists, applied to join Vale of Glamorgan’s […]
July 18th, 2017
Today, Humanists UK made oral submissions in the assisted dying case brought by its member Noel Conway, who is seeking to change to law that currently prevents terminally ill people – those with six months or less to live – from being able to chose a medically assisted death. The case is being heard before […]
July 18th, 2017
Voice for Choice, the UK’s national coalition of pro-choice campaigning organisations – of which Humanists UK is a member – has lodged a formal complaint to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over the conduct of its Commissioner, Lord Shinkwin, who was appointed by the Government Equalities Office earlier this year. The complaint focuses […]
July 12th, 2017
Yesterday around 100 teachers attended Humanist UK’s Understanding Humanism Teachers Conference at Conway Hall. One of the biggest events of the year for Religious Education (RE) teachers, the conference provided an opportunity for teachers to broaden their subject knowledge and to gather, share, and discuss ideas for teaching about humanism in the classroom. The conference […]
July 11th, 2017
Humanists UK has been given permission to intervene in the assisted dying case being brought by its member Noel Conway. Noel, who has motor neurone disease and has been given months left to live, is due to have his case heard at the High Court from 17-20 July. Humanists UK’s written intervention was submitted to […]
July 10th, 2017
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week the Court of Appeal will rule on whether or not the segregation of boys and girls by a Muslim ‘faith’ school constitutes discrimination under equality law. The appeal is being brought by schools inspectorate Ofsted after its previous decision to place School X in special measures due to concerns […]
July 10th, 2017
On 5 August 2017, Humanists UK will host Humanism2017, an international conference on the rise of authoritarian populism, extremism, and nationalism in the modern world, as part of the general assembly weekend of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Nearly 80 years ago, the humanist philosopher Harold Blackham, then-director of Humanists UK, organised a similar […]
