Secularists upset by Council prayers

The National Secular Society (NSS) has complained at a move to include prayers at Derbyshire County Council meetings.

Introducing prayer at the beginning of a full council meeting in May, Reform UK Council Chairman Nick Adams confirmed that it would be “a standing agenda item going forward”.

The NSS, which is running a campaign to axe Parliamentary and local Government prayers, believes that religious worship should not “play any part in the formal business of the state”.

Christian heritage

According to the NSS, many new Reform UK councillors have raised concerns about the “undermining” of the nation’s Christian heritage since the party took control of the Council.

But the campaign group branded the introduction of prayers at meetings “disappointing” and ‘regressive’.

NSS Head of Campaigns Megan Manson claimed that it would harm “equality and cohesion” and “alienate many in Derbyshire’s increasingly irreligious and diverse community”.

The organisation made similar claims in 2019, when it attempted to remove prayers from meetings of Denbighshire Council in Wales. Despite the pressure, the Council refused to do so.

Parliamentary prayers

In February, Muslim MP Shockat Adam defended the use of Christian prayers before each sitting of the House of Commons.

Opposing an Early Day Motion (EDM) urging Parliament to abandon the historic practice, the Independent member for Leicester South told the Mail on Sunday such prayers were “part of our Christian heritage and Parliament’s traditions”.

The EDM, backed by MPs from Labour, the Green Party, the SNP and Liberal Democrats, received just nine signatures, while the previous attempt to abolish prayers in 2019 received just 15 signatures.