October 19th, 2018
For the third time within a year, Lancashire County Council has voted in favour of removing non-stunned meat products, except poultry, from its schools. The vote, which passed 49 in favour and 23 against, means that 27 schools catering to 12,000 pupils will now switch from serving meat from non-poultry animals that were not stunned […]
October 19th, 2018
A leading UK academic specialising in the study of religious schools has joined Humanists UK to head up its national campaign to abolish them in the state sector, which she describes as ‘one of British society’s greatest problems today.’ Dr Ruth Wareham has been appointed as Humanists UK’s new Education Campaigns Manager to lead the […]
October 18th, 2018
On 20 November Humanists UK will mark Trans Day of Remembrance for the first time in a specially created humanist ceremony organised by its section LGBT Humanists at the unconsecrated ‘Fitzrovia Chapel’, a secular space in central London. The ceremony will remember and pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in acts of […]
October 17th, 2018
Humanists UK has been invited to participate in the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Westminster for the first time, following many years of campaigning effort. Humanists UK and its armed forces section Defence Humanists will be represented at the ceremony by Chief Executive Andrew Copson. They have today welcomed the move towards […]
October 16th, 2018
Humanists UK has been working with the Home Office this year to introduce new training for all asylum assessors on claims related to freedom of religion or belief. The new day-long training, which will be the first specific training on the matter, will be rolled out early next year. The new training fulfils a key […]
October 15th, 2018
Downing Street is reportedly to approve plans to fortify flour with folic acid within weeks to prevent hundreds of babies each year from being born with birth defects. The report has been welcomed by Humanists UK as a health measure that will lead to fewer serious or fatal foetal abnormalities and so improve the lives […]
October 12th, 2018
Update, 2 pm: Gulalai has now been released on bail, but her passport has not been returned to her, and she is still unable to leave Pakistan because she is on an ‘exit control list’. Humanists UK is now focused on ensuring she is not prosecuted for any crime and regains the right to travel. […]
October 10th, 2018
A coalition of leading UK academics has called for an end to collective worship in English state schools, arguing that all children need to be given the freedom to make up their own minds on the merits of particular religious beliefs. Authors of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain’s new pamphlet, How to […]
October 5th, 2018
Admission policies in Catholic primary schools in the Republic of Ireland will no longer be able to select students on the basis of a child’s religion, in a major decision announced by Ireland’s Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, this week. The changes remove religion as a factor in admission in 19 out of every 20 […]
October 4th, 2018
Journalist, Labour peer, and veteran broadcaster Baroness Joan Bakewell will deliver the Holyoake Lecture 2018 in Manchester on Tuesday 13 November. Joan will discuss her remarkable life and accomplished career in the media, as well as exploring the turbulent political landscape and her place within it, and will give her analysis of our current political […]
October 4th, 2018
Humanists UK member Omid T, who was awaiting judgement from the High Court on his legal case seeking to change the law on assisted dying, has died this morning at the assisted dying clinic Lifecircle in Switzerland, Humanists UK has announced. Omid had multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Humanists UK has been supporting his legal […]
October 2nd, 2018
Humanists UK and Conservative Humanists together held their biggest ever fringe at the Conservative Party Conference last night, discussing the urgent need to repeal laws that criminalise blasphemy and apostasy around the globe. The packed event heard from Gulalai Ismail, founder of Pakistani women’s equality organisation Aware Girls and board member of the International Humanist […]
