Category - equalities act

Religion, belief and non-discrimination law

Simon Barrow — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:32:51 +0000

Over the past eleven years, the British government has passed a number of laws that specifically tackle, or include directly in their provisions, protection of the freedom of ‘religion or belief’ – based on the right to hold or not to hold religious or other philosophical beliefs. This paper looks specifically at how ‘religion or belief’ is defined, particularly in relation to the Equality Act 2006 / 2007, and locates this within the wider policy-led and academic attempts to define ‘religion’. Looking at some of the implications of the definitions applied, it goes on to summarise key elements of current law on non-discrimination, drawing on public sources and examples from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Nothing in this background paper constitutes legal advice or should be read as constituting such advice. If you have legal questions or requirements, please consult a qualified lawyer.

Simon Barrow

Scaring the hell out of kids?

Simon Barrow — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:26:02 +0000

Teachers have a tough job trying to balance the needs of pupils from diverse backgrounds, says Simon Barrow. Trying to do so is not ‘political correctness’. It’s humanly decent, educationally necessary - and Christianly desirable, too.

Catholic Church adoption policy seriously confused, says Christian group

staff writers — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:30:56 +0000

There are serious confusions and contradictions in the position being put forward by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster over his claim that Catholic adoption agencies will be forced to close if the Equalities Act, due to come into force in April 2007, prohibits them from refusing homosexual couples.