October 24th, 2017
Today, just three days before the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act 1967, hearing will commence in a Supreme Court case seeking to bring legal abortions to women in Northern Ireland in some of the gravest of circumstances. Humanists UK, which is intervening in the case, is due to have its oral submissions heard by […]
October 23rd, 2017
The UK Government Equalities Office has today committed to paying for travel and accommodation expenses for Northern Ireland women from lower income backgrounds who travel to England to access an abortion. The announcement, made in the week of the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act 1967, extends the commitment to provide free abortion services on […]
October 20th, 2017
NHS England is currently holding a public consultation on new guidance for all Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) recommending ceasing prescriptions for several treatments including all homeopathic and herbal treatments. NHS England is recommending that CCGs should no longer prescribe either of these treatments to new patients and to facilitate their removal from current patients. Humanists […]
October 20th, 2017
The status of ‘faith ethos’ academies has been brought back into focus this week by a new report into England’s third largest academy chain, Oasis. The report, which details the overtly religious ethos of Oasis schools, challenges the organisation’s claim that its academies are not religious, and suggests that it ought to be more transparent […]
October 19th, 2017
The Oireachtas (Irish legislature) Committee on Abortion has voted not to recommend the retaining of the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution in full ahead of the national referendum on reforming its strict abortion laws scheduled for the summer of 2018. The committee is responsible for recommending what question will be put forward in this […]
October 19th, 2017
As the Christmas period approaches parents and school-children alike are gearing up to send ‘shoeboxes’ of gifts to children less fortunate than themselves around the world. One shoebox appeal, known as Operation Christmas Child, is run by Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian organisation originating from the United States. Humanists UK, which has warned about the […]
October 18th, 2017
A Church of England school in Kent has been forced to stop a Christian group from delivering assemblies and lessons to its pupils after parents complained about their children being exposed to ‘a potentially damaging ideology’. Humanists UK, which campaigns against the privileged position given to religion in schools, has stood by the parents, and […]
October 18th, 2017
The Church of England has today published its annual attendance figures for 2016. The latest Statistics for Mission has revealed that the long-term pattern of decline in Church attendance has continued, except amongst school services, where numbers show an increase. Humanists UK has expressed alarm at the increasing use of Church schools, most of which are state-funded, as […]
October 18th, 2017
Home Office Minister Sarah Newton MP branded ‘gay conversion therapies’ as homophobic hate crimes that have no place in British society, after Walton MP Dan Carden raised the issue in Parliament citing evidence that a church in his constituency is using starvation as part of a so-called treatment. Humanists UK is alarmed by reports of […]
October 16th, 2017
Nigel Williams, a Christian working at a printing business, has refused to print an order of business cards for a trans diversity consultant in Southampton, claiming that to fulfill the order would be to promote a cause that marginalises Christians. The business card order was placed by Joanne Lockwood, a transgender woman, whose company, See […]
October 16th, 2017
Scientist, writer, and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts has today launched an appeal to fundraise the salary and campaign activities of the only campaigner in the UK dedicated to opposing state-funded faith schools and the prevalence of undue religious privilege and discrimination in the education system. The fundraising campaign comes in the face of unprecedented efforts […]
October 13th, 2017
The segregation of girls and boys at a Muslim school in Birmingham has been deemed unlawful by the Court of Appeal in a ruling handed down today. The decision, which overturns the ruling of the High Court earlier this year, states that such segregation discriminates against both girls and boys, and is likely to force […]
