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The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.

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‘Deeply disappointing’ Bishops retain reserved seats in Lords Reform Bill

Heavily criticised proposals to strengthen the unjust influence of the Church of England in Parliament have been today revealed in the form of the House of Lords Reform Bill. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has condemned the Bill, which if implemented without modification would embed special privilege at the heart of our political system.The Government’s House of Lords Reform Bill proposes to continue reserving seats in Parliament for the representatives of the state Church in the form of ‘Lords Spiritual’. From 2025 the number of Lords Spiritual will be set at 12, with their numbers

New BHA research reveals most new ‘faith’ schools opening ‘by the back door’

Every single ‘faith’ school proposed to be fast-tracked through the opening process without competition in the last five years was approved. This 100% success rate contrasts with the results of other schools trying to open outside of competition, when fewer than half of proposals were successful. When ‘faith’ schools faced competition from non-religious proposals, barely one-third succeeded. These are the main findings of a new report  published today by

Holy Redundant! BHA launches campaign to remove Bishops from Parliament

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today launched its campaign to remove reserved seats for the Bishops from the House of Lords. The campaign, ‘Holy Redundant ’, follows on from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill reporting on Monday  in support of the Government’s proposals to keep reserved seats for Bishops in a reformed second chamber by a vote of 13-7.The new BHA website debunks arguments used in support of keeping Bishops in the Lords. It encourages supporters to write

Methodists risk giving up all their education principles on a wing

This weekend saw the Methodist Church hold a meeting aimed at ‘re-invigorat[ing] its engagement with the education sector’. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has expressed dismay at the related Education Committee Report  with its calls for expansion and increasing evangelisation of Methodist schools, and expressed concern at the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) role in instigating this development.Earlier this year, following the passage of the Education Act, the DfE gained the power to force

New Church of England report seeks expansion and evangelisation of state-funded schools

A new report by the Church of England is set to call for an increase in the specifically religious character of its state-funded schools, as well as the setting up of 200 more state-funded Church schools. It follows a call by the Church of England Bishop responsible for education for church schools to be used to combat ‘aggressive secularism’. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has labelled the report insular and tainted by self-interest. The BHA also says the contents of the report undermine the Church’s claim that its schools are genuinely open to all.Proposals found in the Church

Groundbreaking new research reveals ‘faith’ schools exclude poorest pupils

New, highly significant research  carried out by the Guardian and published today for the first time has revealed the huge extent to which English ‘faith’ schools exclude pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM). The British Humanist Association (BHA) has urged the government to end faith-based selection in state schools.It has long been known that ‘faith’ schools take fewer pupils eligible for FSM than average, but always been retorted that this is because ‘faith’ schools are typically in more

Groups submit bids to open 2013 Free Schools as BHA lists applicants

Today is the deadline for submitting a bid to open a Free School in 2013 , as part of the ‘third wave’ of applications. 337 groups have indicated  to the New Schools Network that they intend to bid. The British Humanist Association has been able to identify 38 proposals for ‘faith’ or pseudoscientific schools, out of 99 identified in total.Free Schools are a type of Academy, used to refer to Academies that are brand new

Largest proposed Free School attempts to increase religious discrimination by circumventing faith-based admissions and employment laws

Becket Keys Church of England School in Brentwood, Essex, the largest Free School to have been pre-approved to open by the Department for Education, has been accused today of attempting to circumvent the 50% faith-based admissions requirement imposed by the Department for Education (DfE), and also of breaking the rules on religious requirements in employing teachers. The accusations come in correspondence from the British Humanist Association (BHA) to the DfE asking the DfE to pay closer attention to the behaviour of the school, which is due to open in September.If oversubscribed, Becket

Government: Community schools will not be able to convert to 'faith' Academies in one step

The Government has reassured the British Humanist Association (BHA) today that under new plans being drawn up, community schools will not be able to convert to ‘faith’ Academies in one simple step, as had previously been reported  and claimed by the Church of England (CofE). The BHA has welcomed the news, though taken the opportunity to again express its concern that faith groups are still able and seeking to expand their role in education through the Academies programme.The plans were initially announced in the TES 

Church of England Academy expansion plans could be slowed by new government proposals

New proposals could slow the spread of new ‘faith’ schools, but go nowhere near tackling the growing religious division in the education system, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has warned.The government has today revised the model funding agreement for Free Schools  in order to give the Secretary of State the explicit power to veto any proposals by a Free School without a religious character to acquire one, something that was not previously the case. This change

‘The single most threatening development on faith schools in a decade’: Government backs Church plans to take over many more state schools

The government and Church of England are working together to expand vastly the number of Church-run but state-funded ‘faith’ schools, it has been revealed . The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today voiced its strong opposition to the proposals, writing with urgency to Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove and to all BHA members and supporters, describing the plans as ‘the single most threatening development in the area of ‘faith’ schools since their expansion began in 2001’.The reported plans suggest that the government is

Church and humanists clash over Bishops in parliament

The conflicting views of the Church of England and the British Humanist Association (BHA) were clear at today’s evidence session on Bishops sitting in the House of Lords, the ‘Lords Spiritual’. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, were both invited to give evidence to the parliamentary Joint Committee looking at the draft House of Lords Reform Bill on Monday 28 November. The BHA had, last month, submitted detailed written evidence to the Committee opposing and criticising the government’s proposals on the Bishops

‘No legitimate reason to keep Bishops in the Lords’: British Humanists to give evidence to Committee

There is no legitimate reason to keep automatic places for Bishops in the House of Lords, and the government’s proposals to do so undermine equality and represent a religious privilege insupportable in today’s society, the British Humanist Association (BHA) will tell the Joint Committee taking evidence on the draft House of Lords Reform Bill.BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson is to give evidence in a session following evidence from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who supports the retention of Bishops. Commenting on the forthcoming evidence session, Mr Copson said, ‘Our

Government explains why it wants to keep the Church of England in the House of Lords

‘The Bishops see their role as speaking for those of all faiths’ – the Government has explained why it wants to keep the Church of England in the House of Lords.Asked why it had proposed reserved seats for Church of England Bishops in a reformed House of Lords, the government provided a number of unconvincing reasons, including that the ‘Bishops see their role as speaking for those of all faiths’. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has criticised the response and said that the Government ‘is yet to provide a proper justification’ for its proposals. Chair of the All Party

Church of England looks to being ‘largest sponsor and provider of secondary education’ as BHA calls for dismantlement of the grip of Church on state

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has said that the government’s Academies programme presents an opportunity for the Church of England (CofE) to play an increasingly important role in state education, with the Church ‘quite conceivably [to] become the largest sponsor and provider of secondary education in this country.’ The British Humanist Association (BHA) has said that such a change would ‘surely lead to further societal division along religious lines’ and has called for dismantlement of the grip of the Church on the state.The Archbishop made his comments on 22 September at

Church of England publishes watered-down guidelines on school admissions

New guidelines from the Church of England on school admissions contain no recommendations or commitments aimed to reduce religious discrimination in admissions of its state-maintained ‘faith’ schools, despite earlier suggestions that it would do so. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has said the omission of plans to reduce religious discrimination in the guidelines is ‘a blow to all those who are working to have a truly inclusive school system.’In April the Bishop of Oxford the Rt Revd John Pritchard, Chair of the Church of England Board of Education and of the National Society Council,

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