January 13th, 2021
MPs raised the plight of humanists in India in a debate in the House of Commons yesterday. Many humanists have been seriously persecuted in India. Several have been murdered in recent years for blasphemy, and people can be imprisoned for the same supposed crime. Humanists UK has welcomed their interventions. Freedom of religion or belief […]
January 13th, 2021
Over 20 MPs and peers from across both Houses have written to the Prime Minister regarding his recent appointment of Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The letter, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, calls on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ensure Ms Bruce adopts an inclusive […]
January 12th, 2021
Marking three years since the publication of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom (right), by Andrew Copson, Humanists UK will on 18 January host an expert panel to discuss the themes laid out in the book, developments since publication, and what these trends might mean for the future of secularism. The event, chaired by award-winning journalist […]
December 21st, 2020
The Federal High Court of Abuja, Nigeria has ruled that the President of the Nigerian Humanist Associaiton, Mubarak Bala, must be released immediately. Humanists UK has welcomed the ruling, and has urged Kano State to comply with it. Bala has been held in Kano since April, after being accused of blasphemy. Kano operates under Sharia […]
December 20th, 2020
Humanists UK has expressed alarm and disappointment at the appointment of Fiona Bruce MP as the new Prime Minister’s global envoy on the human right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Fiona has been a committed opponent of FoRB for the non-religious at home – for many years, the most committed and active opponent […]
December 18th, 2020
Governments across the UK should repeal compulsory collective worship, children’s rights bodies from all four nations have told the United Nations. Humanists UK, Wales Humanists, and Northern Ireland Humanists all contributed evidence to national reports compiled by key children’s rights bodies in each country, with partner organisation Humanist Society Scotland contributing to a similar report […]
December 18th, 2020
The EU’s top court, the European Court of Justice, has upheld a decision by Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, to require all farm animals are stunned before slaughter, following a challenge by Jewish and Muslim groups. The ruling is binding case law in the UK, which means that EU law that will apply in […]
December 17th, 2020
A wide-ranging, independent review of the education system in Northern Ireland is being established by the Executive is to consider what a single education system would mean for the country and how it might be implemented. Northern Ireland Humanists – which has long campaigned for such a system – has welcomed the news. At present, […]
December 11th, 2020
Venues used for humanist marriages are allowed to reopen from today, after a strong majority of such venues were required to close during the recent lockdown. The regulations, during the two-week lockdown, required venues that normally serve food or drink to close – regardless of whether they were actually serving food or drink. This affected […]
December 10th, 2020
The way new teachers are trained reinforces educational division in Northern Ireland, a new report from Ulster University has found. Northern Ireland Humanists, which campaigns for a single system of schooling that educates pupils from all backgrounds together, has welcomed the report, which is the latest in a series looking at the problems associated with […]
December 10th, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to many countries cracking down on humanists’ freedom of thought and expression, with some countries blaming the non-religious for the pandemic, while the restrictions imposed by many others have left closeted humanists trapped with their hostile families. Those are the findings of this year’s Freedom of Thought Report, published today […]
December 4th, 2020
Tonight, Humanists UK President Professor Alice Roberts and Chief Executive Andrew Copson spoke to an audience of 500 ticket-holders about the history of humanist ideas and activism around the world as part of a special launch event for The Little Book of Humanism, the Sunday Times bestseller now on its sixth print run. In a […]
