{"id":2697,"date":"2024-07-25T11:10:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T11:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2024-07-25T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T11:10:17","slug":"social-reform-that-transcends-party-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/?p=2697","title":{"rendered":"Social reform that transcends party politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Opinion piece published during the run up to the 4.7.24 general election when any comment that might be deemed favourable to any particular party was avoided. Published Barking & Dagenham Post, Ilford Recorder, Romford Recorder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The upcoming election raises new prospects for social reform. Humanists are keen to work with whoever comes to power to achieve progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scope for change is illustrated by the remarkable number of draft Bills actively supported by Humanists UK at the time the election was announced. Unfortunately, four sets of reform fell by the wayside following the announcement. All had a reasonable chance of success. One would have de-criminalised abortion and replaced the Victorian era penal approach with a civil framework. This against a backdrop of efforts by the anti-choice movement, often funded by US evangelicals, to turn the clock back. Another reform, thwarted when the same Bill fell, would have banned the discredited and harmful practice of conversion therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Children not in School Bill<\/em> also fell. This Private Member\u2019s bill was supported by the Government. It aimed to address the estimated 6000 children enrolled at illegal schools, many run by religious fundamentalists.  Finally, the private member\u2019s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Bill<\/em> was abandoned. It too was supported by the Government. It would have established a Special Envoy on FoRB dedicated to promoting freedom of religion or belief worldwide and raising awareness of persecution based on, for example, blasphemy laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One success, passed following the election announcement, was The<\/em> Media Act<\/em>, which repealed requirements for public service broadcasters to include religious programming. This coincided, incidentally, with the latest census data released in May which shows that in Scotland those ticking the \u2018no religion\u2019 box rose from 36% in 2011 to 51% in 2022. The Act\u2019s impact will be monitored to ensure that humanism now receives a fair level of coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is just a snapshot. There are many other areas on which Humanists UK will continue to press for reform, including compulsory Christian worship in state schools, discriminatory admission and employment practices by religious schools, the law on assisted dying, and the legalisation of humanist weddings. When Parliament dissolved the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group comprised over 100 members across the party spectrum in both Houses. We look forward to seeing what the new influx of MPs will bring. One way or another, Humanists will continue to work to ensure this country\u2019s institutions and laws befit a modern, diverse society, and for a fairer, kinder, more tolerant world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Kaufman
Chairperson, East London Humanists<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The upcoming election raises new prospects for social reform. Humanists are keen to work with whoever comes to power to achieve progress. The scope for change is illustrated by the remarkable number of draft Bills actively supported by Humanists UK … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9c4oP-Hv","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2699,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions\/2699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}