The Scottish Government has passed its controversial Hate Crime Bill despite concerns being raised over its impact on freedom of speech. The new legislation creates a criminal offence of “stirring up hatred” against protected groups, on the grounds of religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and transgender identity. It expands on a similar race crime law …
Category «Education»
Bulletin180: Winter 2020
Welcome to our Winter Bulletin! We hope you enjoy reading it and look forward to receiving any comments or questions about the concerns raised in this issue. Please email any comments to our Communications and PR Officer lucy.marsh@familyeducationtrust.org.uk In this issue… A Dark Day for Parents in Scotland In November, the Scottish courts passed a …
Letter: Government policy must put parental responsibility before the power of the state
The following letter, signed by Family Education Trust director, Norman Wells, and Family Education Trust trustee, Dr Trevor Stammers, was published in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 10 October 2017:
Parents and guardians must retain the fundamental freedom to bring up their children in accordance with their beliefs and values. The role of the state in the nurture of children is strictly ancillary to that of the parents or guardians. The Government’s decision to impose Relationships Education on every child in England from the age of five undermines that freedom…
Well-intentioned, but ill-defined
Family Education director Norman Wells reflects on the government’s counter-extremism strategy The government’s long-awaited counter-extremism strategy was finally published on 19 October, yet considerable uncertainty continues to surround how it will work out in practice. At the very beginning of the strategy, the government adheres almost word-for-word to the formal definition of ‘extremism’ found in …