The UN should be careful not to attack the UK’s “institutions of faith”, a Christian MP has said.
Nick Fletcher MP was responding to a report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which advocated schools in England be banned from selecting pupils on the grounds of religious belief.
In 2016, the same committee urged the UK Government to “repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship”.
‘Intolerance’
In its report, the CRC said Westminster should respect “the right of children” to freedom of expression and belief by: “Preventing the use of religion as a selection criterion for school admissions in England”.
Mr Fletcher, a member of the House of Commons Education Committee, said the statement “does not seem to come from a position of tolerance but rather one of intolerance”.
He expressed “confidence” that the UK would “continue to respect Christianity”, alongside other major religions, and “recognise the huge benefit they and the institutions they run bring to our society”.
the statement does not seem to come from a position of tolerance but rather one of intolerance
The Don Valley MP recently used a debate in Westminster Hall to remind parliamentary colleagues of the importance of Christianity to British society, noting that “so many of the laws and values we now take for granted have their roots firmly in the Christian faith”.
Secular diktat
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester, said: “This sounds like a secular-inspired attack against faith and its influence in society.
“Parents are the primary persons responsible for their children’s upbringing – the state has only a supporting role.”
And Lizzie Harewood, Executive Officer of the Association of Christian Teachers, called the CRC diktat “unreasonable”, noting that “faith-based schools already have largely restricted powers on selection”.