Humanist reflections on the parliamentary session: Wins, setbacks, and what comes next

It’s the end of the parliamentary session, and the Head of Humanists UK’s Policy Unit, Karen Wright, reflects on successful legal changes and campaigns that are ongoing

Since I’ve been working in policy, Humanists UK has seen and helped bring about a swathe of positive changes. But progress rarely comes in a straight line, so it’s a good moment to take stock of what we’ve achieved – and where the work is far from done.

The most recent election delivered a parliament that was younger, more diverse, less religious, and more humanist than the UK has ever seen. The first parliamentary session is over, which is where attempts to change the law are introduced, debated and passed. Not all bills make it. Let’s look at the major victories and defeats for humanist causes:

Crime and Policing Bill

In a major campaign victory, women in England and Wales will no longer face police investigations for ending their own pregnancies, and women who have been convicted or investigated under abortion law will be pardoned. 

Part of this new law takes abortion out of the criminal code in relation to women ending their own pregnancies. It does not change the wider abortion law or existing time limits, and it does not affect when abortions are available to women. It stops women from being investigated and prosecuted for ending their own pregnancies, and ensures that women who end their own pregnancies will no longer face the threat of life imprisonment under the Victorian-era Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

A change to the Bill from Baroness Thornton, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG), will eventually pardon women who were targeted by the law for ending their own pregnancies.

The Bill also puts anti-LGBT+ and disability-motivated hate crimes on the same footing as religious and racial hate crimes. They will now be considered more serious offences in the eyes of the courts; perpetrators will receive harsher sentences, and victims will have more time to access justice.

Overall, the Bill represents a huge milestone for women, disabled people and LGBT+ people. To me, this feels like real progress and a victory all humanists should welcome.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Currently, children attending illegal schools are denied a broad, balanced, and objective curriculum, and are often subject to physical and, in some cases, sexual abuse. Settings are often housed in poor or unsafe conditions.

The new Act will now make it harder for proprietors to exploit grey areas in the law, including:

• Strengthening Ofsted’s ability to investigate suspected illegal schools
• Clearer routes to gather evidence and take action
• A register of all home-educated children
• Powers to send a young person back to school

For over a decade Humanists UK has led the national campaign for action on illegal schools, and has worked with former pupils. This work has secured repeated, high-profile media attention on the issue and prompted the establishment of Ofsted’s unregistered schools team. Humanists UK supported the Bill’s intent to close loopholes that allow illegal schools to operate, and worked closely with Parliamentarians to guard against any attempts to weaken the legislation.

Some loopholes still need closing, and enforcement will still face challenges. We have called on ministers to introduce a mandatory national registration and regulation scheme for out-of-school settings, and warned against possible carve-outs for religious settings in any regulations, in order to protect children who fall through the gaps.

Despite welcome progress on illegal schools, I remain incredibly concerned that the Act has reopened a path for new 100% religiously selective state-funded schools. This will undermine the fact that the 50% cap on faith-free schools, which has proven to improve ethnic integration. Despite this, we will continue to make the case for state-funded schools to open to all regardless of their faith or belief. 

Terminally Ill Adults Bill

If you’d asked me at the end of June last year, I would have told you that assisted dying had passed its biggest hurdle, and after MPs voted in favour, the Terminally Ill Adults Bill would become law. We’ve campaigned on this for 100 years, and we thought one of the biggest social movements of our generation was probably going to pass.

But the Bill went to the House of Lords, where nearly 1,300 changes to the Bill have been proposed, a record for any parliamentary Bill, with seven of the most vocal opponents putting forward nearly 700 amendments between them. Amendments have included a pregnancy test for all applicants, including men, a one-year holiday ban for applicants, and an unworkable requirement for half a dozen GP visits.

The Assisted Dying Bill ultimately failed in the House of Lords due to a deliberate filibuster by a small number of peers opposed to the principle of assisted dying.

It may be possible to bring the Bill back in the next parliamentary session.