In Depth:  justice

Luke Randall

The Christian Institute (CI) has released its Annual Report, which revealed that in 2023 it engaged with over 62,000 supporters, including more than 5,000 churches.

The legal organisation, which seeks to defend the rights of Christians, also recorded more than 5.4 million website visits, 106 print and broadcast media requests, and led more than 450 presentations which were attended by over 21,000 people during that year.

Nicola Laver

Theology lecturer Dr Aaron Edwards, who was dismissed from Cliff College, Derbyshire after tweeting his Christian views on sexuality, is to appeal a ruling refusing his unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination claims.

An employment tribunal found the college had been ‘reasonable’ and ‘justified’ in its actions and that Edwards’ rights to freedom of religion had not been engaged. Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Edwards, said the judge ‘has simply not engaged with the substance of this case. Aaron was sacked because he challenged the church to uphold God’s teaching on human sexuality.’

Nicola Laver

Claire Brennan, a Roman Catholic, is being prosecuted after she had been holding a sign reading Pray to End Abortion, praying the Lord’s Prayer inside a ‘buffer zone’ outside Causeway hospital, Coleraine, NI.

A police officer accused her, and a wheelchair-bound colleague, of causing ‘harassment, alarm and distress’. She was arrested and her lawyers subsequent attempts to defend her on human-rights grounds was refused. Brennan is now due to appear before magistrates in October.

The government did overreach itself during the pandemic, delegates at an Affinity event have broadly concluded.

With the backdrop of the government’s Covid Inquiry, the organisation, which represents 1,200 evangelical churches and groups, recently held a symposium bringing various partners together to reflect on how Christians and churches responded to the pandemic.

Nicola Laver

Transgender guidance for schools, published this December, does not require teachers or pupils to address a child, who wants to change gender, by their preferred pronoun.

As the guidance was being drafted, The Times said children would be able to socially transition with parental consent, but only in limited circumstances; and teachers would not be forced to use a child’s chosen pronoun if they have a ‘good faith’ exception.

Nicola Laver

The National Trust has been widely criticised for producing a calendar that features religious festivals such as Diwali, Ramadan and Eid – but not Easter and Christmas.

A statement from the NT said: ‘We have an Inclusion and Wellbeing Calendar that is an internal resource, used to keep staff and volunteers up to date about awareness months and minority religious and cultural celebrations they might not otherwise be familiar with.

Iain Taylor

Last summer the national media shone the spotlight on when and how banks may close customers’ accounts.

Evangelicals Now has been contacted by two evangelical churches in Essex, South Park Chapel, Ilford, and Becontree Church, in Barking and Dagenham, London, whose banking facilities were withdrawn recently by Barclays.

Joel Murray

Nearly 1,000 church leaders from more than 500 churches across Britain have met at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for FIEC’s annual Leaders’ Conference.

The theme for the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches’ 2023 conference was the justice of God: what it means to follow and love the God of justice as He ultimately brings all things under Christ, the just and righteous ruler.

Nicola Laver

A Tory councillor, who was suspended in July after tweeting ‘Pride is not a virtue but a sin’, has been reinstated after an investigation into alleged misconduct by the local council standards committee.

King Lawal (see photo), a North Northamptonshire councillor – who is still reportedly under investigation by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) – was also ‘cancelled’ by several other organisations after expressing his Biblical beliefs on social media.

Nicola Laver

A street preacher has been awarded £5,500 in compensation from Police Scotland after he was unlawfully arrested for an alleged ‘hate’ incident in January 2022.

Angus Cameron was arrested in Buchanan Street, Glasgow for an alleged breach of the peace ‘with homophobic aggravation’, handcuffed and held in a police van for over an hour. He commented: ‘I still don’t know what I was supposed to have said.’

Nicola Laver

Christians in the UK have been urged to give their views and experiences on how free they feel to express and practice their faith today.

An online questionnaire has been published by Voice for Justice UK (VfJUK) to examine freedom of expression and practice of Christian beliefs in the UK, ahead of an Inquiry it will launch this month (September).

Nicola Laver

A Christian parent has been reinstated as an elected school governor by the High Court, after being sacked and ostracized for complaining about the primary school’s RSE lesson plans and policy. Under the lesson plans, children would be encouraged to discuss issues around gender ideology.

Both the governing body - and local authority appeal panel which upheld its decision - accepted that the removal of the parent as governor in 2021 was unlawful. The effect of the court order is that the governor’s reinstatement is retrospective from the date of her removal. Her name has been withheld for legal reasons.

Nicola Laver

Dr David Mackereth, 60, had been a practising doctor for 26 years, until he lost his job with the DWP. He told the DWP in a training session that in good conscience as a Bible-believing Christian he could not identify clients by their chosen ‘gender identity’ instead of their biological sex. In response, the DWP declared this would amount to ‘harassment’ under the Equality Act 2010 and dismissed Dr Mackereth from his role as a Health and Disability Assessor.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Dr Mackereth launched a legal claim for discrimination on the grounds of his Christian and philosophical beliefs.

Nicola Laver

Dave McConnell, a street preacher arrested in June 2021 after ‘misgendering’ a biological male, has had his conviction quashed. McConnell was reported to Prevent as a potential terrorist after being sentenced for a public order offence.

There is no legal requirement in the UK to use a person’s ‘preferred pronouns’, but McConnell – who has been street preaching for 15 years – was convicted for ‘insulting’ words and ordered to carry out 80 hours of community service and pay £620.

West Yorkshire Police has agreed to pay Huddersfield street preacher David McConnell (see photo) £3,250 in damages for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and breach of human rights.

McConnell was preaching in 2019 when he faced hostile questions about abortion and sexuality, issues he had not been preaching about. Complaints were made and he was arrested without being informed as to what offence he was suspected of committing. In a case backed by the Christian Institute, the police force admitted liability.