These articles were first published in our October edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
Calls for buffer zones to be introduced outside abortion clinics to stop patients being harassed were rejected by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on 13 September.
He said such protest-free areas around clinics in England and Wales ‘would not be a proportionate response’. A Home Office review found cases of harassment and damaging behaviour but they were ‘not the norm’, with most activities being ‘more passive’ such as showing banners and praying.
The Scout Association agreed in late August to settle a discrimination claim of a Christian who was expelled from the association after he had sent a letter questioning its promotion of Islam and Pride events.
He donated his compensation to the organisation that had supported his case.
Edinburgh University student union officials handed out pronoun badges to fresh-ers so that they knew which pronouns to use when referring to each other at the start of the new term in September.
The Students’ Association published a guide to sharing pronouns which explains that assuming a pronoun to use based on appearance ‘can be frustrating and harmful’.
Figures published in early August showed there was a sharp rise in the number of prosecutions for modern slavery, but conviction rates have stalled.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) received 355 referrals from the police and other agencies in the financial year 2017/18 – the highest figure ever recorded. Estimates suggest that the number of modern slavery victims in the UK could be as high as 136,000.