Humanist & Secularist Liberal Democrats

Yesterday saw a major advance for same-sex couples in the UK - but also a setback for humanist couples.

The Commons voted once again, by an overwhelming majority of 366 to 161, in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.

Only 4 Liberal Democrat MPs voted against: Gordon Birtwhistle, John Pugh, Sir Alan Beith and Sarah Teather. One pleasant surprise came from Greg Mulholland, who voted for the Bill. Non-voters included Tim Farron and Simon Hughes.

Last night (Monday 22nd April), the House of Lords defied the government and voted for a second time to outlaw caste discrimination.

After two successive defeats in the Lords, the Conservative side of the coalition has finally backed down, and caste discrimination should now be outlawed within months.

Next Tuesday, 16^th April, MPs will have a chance to outlaw caste-based discrimination, when the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill comes back from the House of Lords to the House of Commons.

Caste is driven by birth, over many generations, and is in effect an extension of racial discrimination to a lower level. However, it is not covered by equality law, so lower-caste Hindus have no protection from caste discrimination against them.

Sometimes, it's useful for us to be reminded that some Liberal Democrat MPs actively defend special subsidies for people of faith.

Greg Mulholland, LibDem MP for Leeds Northwest, has recently declared his opposition to the possible withdrawal of free school transport for most faith school students in Leeds:

We're back from Lib Dem Spring Conference, where we took every opportunity to raise awareness of religious discrimination in faith schools.

THE DEBATE: EVERY CHILD TAUGHT BY AN EXCELLENT TEACHER

Our amendment may not have been selected for debate, but HSLD Chair Toby Keynes was the first person called in the debate and had enough time to point out just how many state-funded faith schools are able to reject would-be teachers, for ANY subject, on the basis of their religion, and how much this narrows the talent pool of teachers that these schools can draw on. Another amendment, from Cllr Liz Green, was overwhelmingly carried and welcomed the coalition's decision to ban free schools from teaching creationism as scientific fact.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has closed the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Brighton by calling on members to spread the message of the Party's commitment in Government to deliver a stronger economy and a fairer society.

In his keynote Leader's speech, Nick paid tribute to the work of the Party in winning the Eastleigh by-election, beating the Conservatives into third place and squeezing Labour while campaigning on the Lib Dem record of delivering in Government.

Come to our big event at this year's Spring Conference in Brighton: Religious Discrimination in Education - a Half-Term Report

We've assembled a very strong line-up of speakers to tackle this urgent topic:

• Professor Ted Cantle, author of the official report on the Oldham Riots, founder of the Institute of Community Cohesion and government adviser: what impact does separate schooling for different faith groups have on local communities?
• Jeremy Rodell, of the Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign: what happened when Richmond Council proposed to create a Catholic secondary school that would effectively exclude the 90% of borough children with non-Catholic parents, at a time when there was a shortage of good-quality secondary school places?
• John Howson, Vice-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Education Association: how far does government action on religious discrimination in schools differ from our party policy?

The Chair of Humanict & Secularist Lib Dems, Toby Keynes, has been backing the campaign for same sex marriage, which passed its first hurdle with the backing of the overwhelming majority of MP's this week. Writing to HSLD members and supporters Toby said:

"I'm sure you know already about the part that Liberal Democrat MPs and campaigners have played in getting the Equal Marriage legislation this far.

The last twelve months have been lit up by moments that will stay with us forever. When Mo Farah approached the final stretch of the 10,000m final, who wasn't up on their feet, screaming at the TV?

When Nicola Adams beamed at the crowd after winning the first ever women's Olympic boxing, who didn't smile back? I was lucky enough to be there, and that's one I'll never forget.