A NEW Bill to give local authorities the choice to hold prayers at council meetings has been backed by Keighley MP Kris Hopkins.
Religious observance at council meetings was ruled to be unlawful by the High Court in 2012 after a successful challenge by the National Secular Society.
However, speaking during the Committee stage debate on the Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Bill in the House of Commons, Mr Hopkins made clear the Government now wished to change the law to give councils “the freedom to pray if they wished to do so”.
The Local Government Minister said: “The Bill is about freedom: freedom to pray; freedom not to pray; freedom to make the choice collectively as a local authority to hold prayers as part of official business, or not; and freedom to make the individual decision to attend the meeting during that item of business or not.”
Mr Hopkins said the Bill’s aims “would give small parish councils, and other local authorities without the power of general competence, the freedom to hold town hall prayers” and ensure that authorities can still support events like Remembrance Day.
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