New research shows overwhelming demand for non-religious pastoral care, with the public six to one in favour. Humanists UK has pioneered the creation of the new Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN) to address demand. NRPSN members are already working in 25% of NHS acute trusts and 15% of prisons. NHS England and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation […]

As Pakistan celebrates its 70th anniversary as an independent state, 24 British politicians, led by Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh, have written to the Pakistani government urging it to repeal its divisive and devastating blasphemy laws, which have been used widely to persecute humanists and religious minorities. Humanists UK, which is part of the End Blasphemy […]

The High Court in Belfast has today rejected a claim brought by a same-sex couple who got married in England and wanted to have their marriage legally recognised in Northern Ireland, and by two other couples who wished to challenge the failure of the Northern Ireland Assembly to legalise same-sex marriages. The judge ruled that […]

The human rights charity Liberty has intervened in support of humanists Laura Lacole and Eunan O’Kane and their case to secure recognition for humanist marriages in Northern Ireland. Calling the lack of such recognition ‘discrimination, pure and simple’, Liberty’s intervention comes as a High Court ruling in favour of the couple is being challenged by […]

Take action! You can respond to the consultation on the NHS’s website, and read our model response to help you draft your own. The Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) for Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire have launched a public consultation asking for the thoughts of people locally and nationally on a recommendation to decommission all […]

This weekend, Humanists UK hosted the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and over 400 humanists from more than 50 countries for a special conference on ‘Populism, extremism, and threats to humanism,’ held at the Royal Society in London. The event was part of a broader weekend of activities surrounding IHEU’s 2017 general assembly, which […]

Pupils in ethnically mixed schools are more trusting and have more positive views of children from different backgrounds than do pupils in segregated schools, new Department for Education-commissioned research has revealed. Humanists UK has stated that the findings represent a further blow to Government plans to increase religious selection in the school admissions system. The […]

Victoria Wasteney, an NHS worker who was suspended from her role as Head of Forensic Occupational Therapy at East London NHS Foundation Trust after being accused of harassment and bullying, will not be allowed to appeal against the decision that she did not face discrimination on the basis of religion.   In 2013, Wasteney was […]

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 […]

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 […]