The Battle for Religious Education - Brighton Conference, 18th-19th September 2016

We have two great events lined up for this month's Conference in Brighton .

It's not too late to register for conference and (if you're a party member) to vote in the debates so as to decide party policy.

We've lined up two great events for you this time, and we hope you'll be able to join us for them.

Both meetings are in the Hilton Metropole outside the conference centre, so you can come even if you haven't registered for Conference.

OUR AGM, with guest speaker DR JULIAN HUPPERT

1pm, Sunday 18th September, Churchill room, Hilton Metropole

We look forward to another eventful year, as education moves to the fore.

Hold your existing committee to account, elect your new committee - and even stand for election yourself. You can find the AGM papers here .

Julian Huppert is always a popular speaker; among many other achievements, he's the former MP for Cambridge, and now once again prospective LibDem candidate for Cambridge, a member of the Agenda 2020 working group, patron of the British Humanist Association, Co-President of HSLD, scientist, educationalist and campaigner.

All are welcome. Only HSLD members can vote and stand for election - so if you're not already a member, why not join during Conference.

OUR FRINGE EVENT: THE BATTLE FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

1pm, Monday 19th September, Gloucester room, Hilton Metropole

How Christian Conservatives are trying to exclude non-religious belief from Religious Education.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Religious Education was created in 2012, and was intended to provide an inclusive approach to RE covering religious and non-religious belief. The founder chair was Stephen Lloyd (then MP for Eastbourne), the Religious Education Council (REC) provided the group's secretariat and Andrew Copson (BHA Chief Executive) provided the humanist perspective. After the 2015 General Election, the first act of the group's new leadership was to remove all non-religious elements from the group and to throw out the REC and the BHA.

Our terrific line-up of panellists is Stephen Lloyd, Andrew Copson and Rudolf Eliott Lockhart (Chief Executive of the REC), and the event chair is Helen Flynn, educationalist and newly-elected Chair of the Social Liberal Forum.

We expect this meeting to be highly popular, so we recommend that you come early.

OUR EXHIBITION STAND

As always, we'll be running a stand at the exhibition. Please come along and meet members of the team.

It's a big job keeping the stand staffed throughout conference, so if you're willing to help for an hour or two please let Toby know (toby.keynes@hsld.org.uk or 0784 6396791) - or just come to the stand and have a word with us there.

We look forward to seeing you in Brighton.