Attempt to Revoke Civil Partnership in Religious Premises Regulations

I am disappointed and saddened at the last minute attempt that will be made in the House of Lords on 8 December 2011 by Baroness O’Cathain (see below) to revoke the regulations to allow civil partnership registration in religious premises and would urge its clear rejection. This appears to be a cynical effort to derail the measure on rather spurious grounds.

The amendment to the Equality Bill permitting registration originated in the House of Lords and was passed with wide support. The matter of churches being “compelled” to register was dealt with by Section 202 which stated that “nothing in this Act places an obligation on religious organisations to host civil partnership registrations if they do not wish to do so”. This is reinforced in the regulations. Churches are no more obliged to enable civil partnerships to be registered on their premises  than hotels or other commercial premises.

British Unitarian and Free Christians have welcomed this opportunity to recognise in public, and support, a commitment between two individuals to each other. I am sure we will be amongst the first to register some of our premises and have registration ceremonies. This is entirely a local decision for each congregation reflecting our commitment to congregational autonomy and democratic governance as we made clear in our submission during to the consultation by the Equality Office.

Compulsion in matters of religion goes against our long history of struggle for our religious freedom. We are confident that the legislation offers the protection to those churches who hold a differing view on this issue and do not wish to register their premises for this purpose. They have that freedom.

Unitarian congregations must not be prevented at this late stage in seeking to take forward our own sincerely held views and to offer same sex couples the opportunity to register their civil partnership”  

House of Lords Future Business

Thursday 8 December at 11.00am

†Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/2661) Baroness O’Cathain to move that a Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty praying that the Regulations, laid before the House on 8 November, be annulled on the grounds that they do not fulfil the Government’s pledge to protect properly faith groups from being compelled to register civil partnerships where it is against their beliefs. 43rd Report from the Merits Committee

Interest in Unitarianism Growing Worldwide

“Interest in Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism Worldwide is growing” was the message at a recent “Tent Summit” in Boston, Massachusetts organized by the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU).

Representatives of the five largest member groups of the ICUU gathered under a tent (well more a gazebo) to symbolise a meeting of people and organisations as equals, as partners and working together with a common objective regardless of age, size or wealth. The “tent” motif comes from the St Ethelburga Centre in London, an historic church which was destroyed by a IRA terrorist bombing of the City in 1993 but rebuilt as a centre for peace and reconciliation.

It was inspiring to share stories with colleagues from Canada, North East India, Transylvania, United States as well as the UK. I was joined by Rev Martin Whitell, Executive Committee Convenor and Rev David Usher, Executive Committee member, as representatives of the General Assembly.

We explored the potential for collaboration and partnership building upon the work of ICUU over the last 16 years. We looked back into our history of working across political boundaries. It is not for nothing that one of the predecessor organisation of the British General Assembly was “The British and FOREIGN Unitarian Association”. Our fore bearers had a vision of Unitarianism expanding across the world.

We looked at our own strengths and what we could contribute to support the wider Unitarian-Univeralist movement. There are emerging groups in many countries as well as individuals who find Unitarianism through the web. Priorities include access to education and training for Ministers, support for lay leadership, opportunities for cross-cultural learning and exploring how we can promote social justice as an international movement.

Thanks to the ICUU President and the staff team for organizing the event and to the Unitarian Universalist Association for hosting us. The challenge is to put in place concrete actions to take forward the priorities identified.

For British Unitarians the message should be to widen our vision of an expanding Unitarian movement in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We have skills, knowledge and funds to bring for mutual benefit for we live in a globalised world and by acting locally we can do so much.

Be Passionate, Connected, Empowering and Authentic and You May Survive

Most of us where brought up with Kodak being a familiar commercial name. Patrick Butler, head of education, health and society at The Guardian, tells their tale in Third Sector (23 February 2010). Kodak, of course, made camera film and was very successful. Yet for a while Kodak somehow “lost the plot”; they thought that digital cameras were a fad. Fortunately for them they managed to reinvent themselves as a digital camera company and then drew on the strengths of their brand name. They managed to stay ahead of the curve, survive and thrive but not without undergoing major change.

We live in a rapidly changing world. Patrick suggested that the following will be the survivors; the passionate, the connected, the empowering, the authentic. He was thinking about charities and voluntary organisations. What about religious groups? I would think that this is relevant both locally and nationally. Where in fact do we stand if measured against this test?

The passionate. Passion has not always been associated with Unitarianism. In a harsh phrase, Ralph Waldo Emerson rejected “corpse cold Unitarianism”. Waldemar Argow argues that “The ideal in religion is to establish the proper balance between mind and emotion” (1). Individuals finding a spiritual home with us often bring passion; we need to ensure this is harnessed and not snuffed out. Collectively, as a denomination we should show we really care about injustice not simply put our hands in our pockets for a good cause. Passion, of course, does not mean we give up our belief in reason but without it we won’t be able to keep our energy levels high.

The connected. Is your congregation embedded in your local community or fairly isolated? Opening your doors to community activities is one way to build connections. Perhaps you are excluded from local ecumenical activities; why not develop your own amongst liberal religious and secular people? Are you connected to district and national Unitarian activities that can help you grow and sustain your community life?

The empowering. Unitarian values of democratic governance at congregational level should set an example of empowerment and participation. They can be liberating for those once active in more hierarchical churches. Yet sometimes we don’t practice what we preach and this can produce conflict and tension in congregations. For example, how the General Assembly involves our young people is something the Executive Committee has been discussing.

The authentic. Some say authenticity can be faked; I doubt it. For all our interest in celebrities – people famous for being famous – we know deep down that this is a sham. People in our churches and chapels will see through the “mask” to the inner reality of our community life. Yet a caring community can make such a difference to individuals and families in an increasingly isolated world.

To be passionate, connected, empowering and authentic is a huge challenge. These raise deep questions for us as individuals, as local communities and as General Assembly. But the prize is a bright future. Like Kodak, we may have to reinvent ourselves in some very practical ways. But like them we can draw upon our strengths, particularly our heritage of service, tolerance and love of freedom.

1. quoted in Lingwood, Stephen (2008) “The Unitarian Life”, Lindsey Press, page 22

This blog post appears in "The Unitarian", No 1293, November 2011

At the Home Office

Chief Officer Derek McAuley pictured outside the Home Office with from left Michael Bartlet (parliamentary liaison, Quaker Peace and Social Witness), Rabbi Danny Rich (Chief Executive, Liberal Judaism) and Paul Parker (Recording Clerk, Quaker Yearly Meeting) prior to a meeting last week with Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister for Equalities, on equal marriage.

Inclusivity Award 2012

I am pleased to be invited to be one of the judges of the Inclusivity Award 2012 of the Accord Coalition. The details of the criteria and how to apply are set out on Accord Coalition's website as below. If you know of any school that is working to promote inclusive communities please encourage them to apply.

"The Accord Coalition’s Inclusivity Awards are open to all schools in England and Wales. At its core is the belief that schools thrive when they have an inclusive and tolerant ethos based on shared values. The awards will be judged by a distinguished panel of experts from a variety of different political, professional and religious backgrounds.

The judges are especially interested in the way that schools address issues of religion and belief, both inside the school and through relationships with local, national and international communities. While the approach to different religions and beliefs will be the focus for judges, it may also be helpful to mention how the school’s inclusive ethos guides its policies on ethnic, cultural and socio-economic differences, as well as gender, age, disability and sexual orientation.

Ofsted

Ofsted describes the features of a school with an outstanding contribution to community cohesion as:
“The school has made an important and beneficial contribution to promoting community cohesion in its wider region or even nationally. Its planned actions to promote community cohesion are underpinned by an effective analysis of the school’s context (including faith, ethnic and cultural, and socio-economic factors). The school’s evaluation of its actions shows a significant impact on its own community. Learners have a strong sense of common values, integrate actively with learners from other groups, and are respectful of others’ differences. Learners themselves make a strong contribution to the promotion of equalities and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination.”

Our two key criteria

We agree with Ofsted, but we go further in two important ways. Firstly, we believe that many schools promote inclusion, cohesion and equality as a core part of their school ethos, and it is those schools that we want to hear about. We want to recognise fact that shared values shape the way that the schools sees themselves, and the way that they are seen by the community.

We therefore would like to see evidence not only of individual projects but also the strategic vision and school ethos behind them. Furthermore, we want to celebrate schools that nurture active citizens who are confident in themselves, tolerant and respectful of others and keen to make a difference in society.

This leads to our second key difference. Because we are convinced that cohesion, inclusion and equality are concepts that must be rooted in the ethos of schools, we feel they cannot be in isolation from other policies that affect the school and the wider community. For that reason we ask for details of a broad range of activities (curriculum, admissions, assemblies, visits etc), not just about specific initiatives established to promote community cohesion.

The scope of the awards

Prizes will be awarded to the schools that have done the most to embody an ethos of inclusion. Other schools may also be commended for their work on inclusion, cohesion and equality either as a whole, or with reference to a particular outstanding feature. For this reason we suggest schools highlight a policy that they feel has been especially successful or innovative."

Campaign for Robin Hood Tax intensifies

I have given my support to the following letter to the Prime Minister from chief executives of a range of voluntary sector and other organisations who support the Robin Hood Campaign for a financial transactions tax

28 October 2011

Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A

Dear Prime Minister,


In February 2010 we launched the Robin Hood Tax campaign, calling for a tiny tax on financial transactions to tackle poverty at home and overseas, provide vaccines and life saving treatment for the world’s most vulnerable, and tackle the impacts of climate change. Eighteen months later we are just days away from a G20 summit where a financial transactions tax (FTT) will be debated. We have the support of over 115 organisations in the UK, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, 1000 international economists, hundreds of parliamentarians, campaigners in over 50 countries, world leaders such as Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, and global figures such as Bill Gates.

But we don’t yet have the support of the UK Government.

We are calling on you to change this now, and work with other G20 countries to introduce a Financial Transactions Tax when you attend the G20 summit in Cannes. Your government has said that you are not opposed to an international financial transactions tax and that you will engage on this issue. But we fear that instead the UK Government is acting to block debate. This is despite the fact that the UK has one of the largest transaction taxes in the world, the stamp duty on shares, and is a world leader in showing how to design and implement such taxes without global agreement.

The UK is also leading the world with its commitment to reach 0.7% of GNI as ODA and is in a position of strength to champion development and climate finance. We therefore also call on you to argue that the revenues from an FTT are used in part to support international development efforts, and to provide the minimum $100bn pledged for climate finance.

A Robin Hood Tax would be the most popular tax in history. While you are at Cannes, please act for those hit hardest by the financial crisis. Act to protect essential public services in the UK, to tackle poverty at home and overseas, and to address climate change.

Chancellor urged to support Financial Transaction Tax at G20

Last week I gave my support to the following letter to George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, from the chief executives of over a hundred organisations urging him to support a financial transactions tax at the meeting of the G20 nations:

"We write to you ahead of the forthcoming meeting of G20 Finance Ministers on the 14th October to urge you to support the efforts of the French G20 Presidency to implement a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).

International momentum for a tax on financial transactions is growing rapidly. Alongside key figures such as Angela Merkel and Bill Gates are the voices of campaigners in over 50 countries.

The concrete proposals for a Europe-wide tax are a welcome development in that they demonstrate the feasibility of an FTT amongst a group of willing nations. However the Robin Hood Tax campaign is categorical that the revenues from such a tax should not be for the EC budget, but should be used to protect front line public services, to tackle poverty at home and overseas, providing vaccines and life saving treatment for the world’s most vulnerable, and to address climate change. We are joined in this argument by the French President but also Bill Gates who supports the implementation of an FTT to help finance development, citing the UK Stamp Duty as an example of its viability.

The UK has one of the largest transaction taxes in the world, the Stamp Duty, and is a world leader in showing how to design and implement such taxes to mitigate avoidance. Expanding the Stamp Duty to capture derivatives could raise billions in additional revenue for the UK. The UK is also leading the world with its commitment to reach 0.7% of GNI as ODA and is in a position of strength to champion development and climate finance. We would ask the UK government to support the efforts of European colleagues for an FTT as a key step towards finding wider agreement amongst a coalition of willing nations at the G20.

We represent just the leading members of the over 115 organisations in the UK who back this tax and who would warmly welcome your support for it. This would be the most popular tax in history. We ask the coalition government to seize this moment and support a Robin Hood Tax in the UK."

The General Assembly has given its support to the Robin Hood Campaign.