The Evangelical Alliance has cautioned against plans for new laws to tackle extremism, announced in today’s Queen’s Speech.
Head of public policy Simon McCrossan commented:
“It’s extreme to try and tell religious groups what they can and can’t teach under the guise of fundamental British values. It’s extreme to threaten to send Ofsted inspectors into churches if they don’t teach British values. This government’s trying to fight extremism with extremism and the main casualty will be our fundamental freedoms.
…….
“We are deeply concerned that the definitions of ‘extremism’, especially the extension of ‘non-violent extremism’, threaten to trample on the freedoms that have been hard won, long enjoyed, and underpin our democracy. To date, the definitions are so broad there could be many unforeseen consequences to fundamental freedoms in our plural multi-faith society.”
The Evangelical Alliance has previously spoken out against government plans to regulate out of school settings, and the threat of Ofsted inspections over a wide variety of clubs and societies, including churches that provide youth and children’s work in every corner of the UK.
Read it all and there is an article on the context from Lapidomedia here