Humanist priorities raised in King’s Speech debates

Over the past week MPs and Lords have been debating the proposals in the King’s speech and many have raised a range of key humanist issues.

Yesterday, in a debate on modernising the House of Commons, All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) member Ellie Chowns MP raised the issue of parliamentary prayers and how those members who do not wish to attend Anglican prayers due to their own personal beliefs were left at a democratic disadvantage as the current Commons chamber is only able to seat 427 out of 650 MPs.

The MP told the Commons that this leads to, ‘some frankly rather ridiculous behaviour’, with members, ‘queuing up at the opening of the Chamber to place a prayer card and book a seat.’ The UK Parliament is currently the only national legislature that does this. It’s time this outdated practice changed.

Meanwhile in a debate on the Constitution in the Lords, peers raised the key issue of bishops in the Lords. Currently 26 Church of England bishops have the automatic right to sit, speak, and vote in the House of Lords. This does not reflect the diverse make-up of the UK. Former APPHG chair Lord Warner demonstrated the discriminatory nature of keeping bishops within the Lords:

‘I also want to emphasise my commitment to the idea of removing the Bishops… We are a secular society, as censuses and the British Social Attitudes surveys have shown for some time. Anglican Church attendance is shrinking faster than the volume of letters delivered by the Royal Mail, while its congregations largely consist of people over 60. Apart from theocracies such as Iran, there are no other Parliaments where clerics have a right of representation.’

In the Lords, APPHG supporter Lord Scriven said that any new Lords reform package should tackle the archaic role of the bishops in Parliament. He mentioned the fact that the Lords Spiritual are entirely unrepresentative and unpopular when, ‘less than 1% of the population regularly attends a Church of England service and consistently only 15% to 16% of the population say that bishops should have an automatic place.’ Reform on this issue is long overdue.

Parliamentarians also welcomed other humanist priorities. Munira Wilson MP welcomed the introduction of a Children Not in School Register as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill. This will be an important step forward in closing the legal loopholes used by the proprietors of illegal schools. While in the Lords, APPHG member Baroness Burt also welcomed the government’s plan in the King’s speech to introduce a ban on conversion therapy.

In her maiden speech to the Commons new Labour MP and APPHG member Lizzi Collinge MP spoke of the importance of humanism to her, telling MPs that:

‘Humanists are people who shape our lives in the here and now, because we believe it’s the only life we have, and what is politics if not shaping lives in the here and now? We believe that we humans have everything we need: logic, reason, evidence, and empathy to make good, ethical decisions. It is these values that I hope to bring to my role’

She is one of many new MPs who has contributed to this Commons being the most openly non-religious ever.

Humanists UK Campaigns Manager Lewis Young commented:

‘It is great to see important humanist issues being raised by MPs and Lords  in the King’s Speech debates. We look forward to working with parliamentarians to develop these proposals to promote an inclusive society where freedom of religion and belief is protected for all.’