A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers welcomed measures in the Equality Bill which provided additional protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation, and gender.
Source: Equality Bill, Fourth Report (Session 2005-06), HL 89 and HC 766, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
The government announced (following consultation) that it was dropping plans to give courts the authority to order the closure of places of worship used to foment extremism.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 15 December 2005, columns 167-171WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | MCB press release | C of E press release
Date: 2005-Dec
A report said that primary schools were insisting on expensive uniforms and contributions to the school fund to deter children from low-income families. Covert selection seemed particularly prevalent in Catholic and Church of England schools.
Source: Chris Waterman, Original Sins: A perspective on selection for primary school in England, Institute for Research in Integrated Strategies (01363 774455)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
The government began consultation on whether there was a need for a new power to serve notices on those responsible for a place of worship requiring them to ensure that 'extremist' activity at that place of worship ceased; and making failure to comply with such a notice a criminal offence. The Church of England described the proposals as "disproportionate".
Source: Preventing Extremism Together: Places of Worship, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 13 October 2005, Church of England (020 7898 1326)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Home Office press release | CofE press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A new book examined the themes of multiculturalism and the British Muslim identity. One essay called for the Church of England to lose its established (preferential) status.
Source: Madeleine Bunting (ed.), Islam, Race and being British, Barrow Cadbury Trust and The Guardian, available from Guardian Branded Books, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1A 3ER
Links: Guardian report | Fabian Society press release
Date: 2005-Sep
Researchers found that religious belief was declining faster than attendance at services; and that parents' beliefs, practices and affiliations had the biggest impact on children.
Source: David Voas, The British Household Panel Study and Key Issues in Religious Change, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Aug
A study examined the views of over 100 children on the role that religion played in their lives.
Source: Greg Smith, Children's Perspectives on Believing and Belonging, National Children?s Bureau (020 7843 6029) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: JRF Findings 0375
Date: 2005-Jul
A report was published of a survey (conducted in 2004 by the Catholic Church) which asked families to talk about what life was like for them. It covered issues such as balancing family, work and home; and changing family structures.
Source: Listening 2004: My Family My Church, Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4875)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Jul
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill was given a third reading. The Bill proposed a new offence of incitement to religious hatred - applying where threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour were used by someone who intended to stir up hatred against a group of people defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
Source: Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 July 2005, columns 597-671, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jul
A report said that 47.5 per cent of Muslims indicated that they would prefer to send their children to a Muslim school rather than a state school.
Source: Saied Ameli, Aliya Azam and Arzu Merali, Secular or Islamic? What schools do British Muslims want for their children?, Islamic Human Rights Commission (020 8904 4222)
Links: IHRC press release
Date: 2005-Jul
A report said that almost three-quarters of urban young people who prayed daily were found to have a sense of purpose, compared to just 48 per cent of those who never prayed.
Source: Gwyther Rees, Leslie Francis and Mandy Robbins, Spiritual Health and the Well-Being of Urban Young People, Children?s Society (020 7841 4415), Commission on Urban Life and Faith, and University of Wales (Bangor)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Children's Society press release
Date: 2005-Jul
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill was published, and given a second reading. The Bill proposed a new offence of incitement to religious hatred - applying where threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour were used by someone who intended to stir up hatred against a group of people defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
Source: Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 21 June 2005, columns 668-767, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | ACPO press release | JUSTICE briefing (pdf) | Law Society press release | Liberty briefing (pdf) | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
The Catholic Church published a compendium of its policies on social and political issues.
Source: Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine, Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4875)
Links: Catholic Church press release
Date: 2005-Jun
The government announced plans (in the Queen's speech) for a Bill to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 May 2005, columns 29-31, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Law Society press release | MCB press release
Date: 2005-May
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act was given Royal assent. It established a Serious Organised Crime Agency to tackle serious crime, and gave the police and community support officers new powers. Proposals to outlaw incitement to religious hatred were dropped due to opposition from the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties.
Source: Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | MCB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
An article examined the decline in religious belief. The evidence suggested that belief had eroded at the same rate as two key aspects of belonging - religious affiliation and attendance.
Source: David Voas and Alasdair Crockett, 'Religion in Britain', Sociology, Volume 39 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Feb
The major Christian Churches in Britain and Ireland launched a discussion document which called for joined-up thinking on social justice. The fundamental principle of 'nobody left behind' demanded a new and wider sense of solidarity, together with a deep renewal of civil society.
Source: Prosperity with a Purpose: Christians and the ethics of affluence, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (01733 325002)
Links: CTBI press release
Date: 2005-Feb
An article examined the experiences of a range of faith groups in Wales. It looked at the public roles of faith groups, and how, especially among Christian denominations, such roles were understood as of growing importance against a backdrop of declining church attendance. It also considered the attitudes of faith group representatives towards devolution and the Welsh Assembly.
Source: Paul Chambers and Andrew Thompson, 'Public religion and political change in Wales', Sociology, Volume 39 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Feb
A report explored the characteristics of religious groups in Scotland, using information collected from the 2001 Census in Scotland.
Source: Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census, Office of the Chief Statistician/Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2005-Feb
A report examined the extent of faith community involvement in the New Deal for Communities programme. It said that faith communities were keen to have an active role in working with the programme and other neighbourhood renewal initiatives, on the basis of genuine engagement.
Source: Angoy Consultancy, Pilot Project on Faith Community Involvement in the New Deal for Communities, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (large Word file)
Date: 2005-Feb
Provisional figures for 2003 from the Church of England showed that more than 1.7 million people attended church and cathedral worship each month, while 1.2 million attended each week and 1 million each Sunday. The figures showed a rise of 1 per cent in each of these measures of church attendance, although the traditional usual Sunday attendance measure showed a drop of 2 per cent, to just over 900,000.
Source: Press release 7 January 2005, Church of England, available from Church House Publishing (020 7898 1326)
Links: C of E press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
A paper identified key texts from academic and research companies in relation to attitudes to religion, religious discrimination and sectarianism in Scotland.
Source: Louise McAspurren, Religious Discrimination & Sectarianism in Scotland: A brief review of evidence (2002-2004), Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Jan
The head of the schools inspectorate reportedly said that the growth of Islamic faith schools posed a challenge to the coherence of British society, and that a traditional Islamic education did not equip Muslim children for living in modern Britain. He said that diversity and acceptance of different cultures was potentially a great strength: but it that it could also undermine 'our coherence as a nation' if taken to extremes.
Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2005
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
An article explored the context of official support for faith involvement in urban and neighbourhood policy, and identified the assumptions underlying key policy documents. Attempts to enlist faith groups within a consensual agenda often failed to recognize both the potential divisiveness of religion and also the more positive and radical lessons that often stemmed from the action, experience and critical analysis of religious organizations and their members.
Source: Robert Furbey and Marie Macey, 'Religion and urban regeneration: A place for faith?', Policy & Politics, Volume 33 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jan