Conservative activists have urged the Prime Minister to ditch the party’s “politically correct” policies, especially in education.
A poll of 550 Conservative councillors, conducted by ComRes, found widespread opposition to the Government’s current priorities.
The Government is set to consult on plans for compulsory relationships education in primary schools – without the right of parental withdrawal – in the coming weeks.
Political correctness
In the ComRes poll, 79 per cent of respondents said parents, not schools, should teach children about adult relationships.
Three quarters said schools should promote traditional models of the family and marriage.
And 62 per cent said the Conservatives are too focussed on politically correct issues like gender identity.
The poll was commissioned by Coalition for Marriage (C4M), the UK’s largest pro-marriage organisation.
Indoctrination
Thomas Pascoe, Campaign Director for C4M, said it should serve as a “wake-up call” to the Education Secretary, who appears to be more interested in indoctrination than education:
“Conservative Party councillors want the Government to concentrate on ensuring schools are well funded and teaching effectively.”
stop the dumbed down, politically correct box ticking
He added that current policy encourages “an obsession with adult sexual identities over all else. The future of our children is being placed second behind the ideological fixations of adults who should know better.
“The warning to Theresa May from her grassroots could not be clearer: stop the dumbed down, politically correct box ticking and concentrate on the job in hand.”
Education
The Government’s focus on gender identity and sexuality has been championed by Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening.
In summer this year, Greening announced that she wanted to make it easier for people to ‘change sex’.
She has also been given the power to legislate for Relationships Education and a secondary school subject called Relationships and Sex Education (RSE).
Following the announcement of the new subjects, The Christian Institute said Relationships Education could “expose young children to concepts that they and their parents fundamentally disagree with for religious or philosophical reasons”.
Consultation
A consultation on the new subjects is expected to take place in autumn 2017. To stay informed, follow The Christian Institute Facebook and Twitter.