LAST PRAYERS FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS

How sad that Independent Councillor and Mayor of Dartmouth Debbie Morris thinks that councillors who do not share her own Anglicism should be excluded from parts of Council meetings. In the 21st century I would have hoped that the saying of prayers would be a thing of the past. The story of Atheist Brian Boughton being discriminated against is surely wrong. he quite rightly argues for a period of silence so that Jew, methodist and Agnostic can ponder their own civic responsibilities in their own way. Suppose a Council with a majority of Atheists had insisted upon a Humanist ceremony before the meeting? What if Tower Hamlets where I am pretty sure the majority of councillors are Muslim had insisted on having an imam in before each council meeting? Would Debbie say it was right for Catholics to be told they should stand outside a Council Meeting as second class councillors before the proceedings began?

We can imagine the Daily Mail and the Telegraph fulminating and formenting at the very thought. In my experience quite rightly the majority of London Councils no longer have prayers.

In the European Parliament we are secular and do not have religious ervices, quite rightly. Can you imagine the bureaucarcy trying to calculate and appropriately apportion slots between Catholics, Lutherans, Muslims, Atheists etc. It would make the Lisbon Treaty seem simple.

Sadly Parliament sets a poor example, still saying Anglican prayers. The sooner we have the disestablishment of the Church of England and a secular political life throughout the country the better.