CHURCH ‘POWER GRAB’

Anyone who wants to live in a tolerant and understanding Britain can only be depressed by recent religious incursions into state schools. In Surrey, two infant schools are due to merge, one is Church of England, the other is secular. The new merged school will be Church of England, depriving locals around Virginia Water and Englefield Green of a non-religious school. In Renfrewshire, there are plans that could see families denied places at their local school if it’s Catholic and they haven’t had their children baptised. In Cambridgeshire, Peterborough City Council has approved the first new Catholic school funded by the taxpayer in England in 10 years. Stephen Evans of the National Secular Society called the decision deeply disappointing. “Many local residents will wonder why their taxes are going to fund a school which explicitly promotes religious beliefs and discriminates against their children on a religious basis in its admissions policy,” he said. Local parent Tracy Butler echoed this view, saying: “We want a school that all local children can go to. There are families here of different faiths and no faith and the council has taken that choice away.” Among the councillors who opposed the decision was Terri Haynes, who said: “This school simply prioritises one group over another on the basis of their parents’ faith.” The council and Catholic diocese of East Anglia argued that around 83% of responses to consultations were in favour of the new school. But opponents point out that 88% of those in the local postcode area were against it. The chairman of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, the Revd Stephen Terry, said: “We are currently witnessing an unsightly power grab by some faith school sponsors.” He added: “Sadly, the Government is all too often being found to placate or acquiesce to such narrow interests.” A report published last week by the education charity Sutton Trust shows that 80% of parents believe state schools should have a mix of pupils from different backgrounds. That’s impossible to achieve if religion is used as a selection criteria.

DIVISION Children pray at school