The House of Lords has rejected a call to disestablish the Church of England, remove God from the coronation oath and to declare Britain a secular state.
Drawing on an National Secular Society (NSS) report, Lord Berkeley asked: “Is it not time for the new monarch, when he comes, to embrace this secular state and perhaps swear an oath to Parliament?”
NSS want to ditch the coronation promise – to “maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel”.
Defining relationships
In a debate last week, Lord Berkeley said the future monarch should embrace the UK’s growing secular population.
But Lord Young opposed the bid, saying that the Government valued the long-standing relationship with the church and there were no plans to “destabilise it”.
He said: “Who we are as a country is defined by our church and our state and the relationship that has been developing for over 400 years between them.
“It would be sad if that link between the church and state was weakened, and it is not something the other faiths have asked for.
Unsucessful
Lord Winston said: “In my view, the Church of England is hugely important to the nature of this country and in this House as well.
“Indeed, it is one of the reasons why I am proud to be British.”
A Church of England spokesperson previously warned that if a bid for secularism was successful, it would hasten the removal of Christianity from public life.