Secular campaigners in legal action over council prayers

Secular campaigners are to launch a legal challenge against a council where prayers are held at the start of meetings, it was disclosed yesterday.

The National Secular Society said it would seek a judicial review over the inclusion of Christian prayers on the agenda at full meetings of Bideford Town Council in north Devon.

Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, said councillors were free to pray separately before or after but it was "not appropriate" for prayers to form an "integral" part of council meetings.

He alleged the prayers breached human rights law by subjecting non-believers and people of other faiths to an "uncomfortable" and "embarrassing" situation.

"In a nation that is rapidly changing, with many non-believers and non-Christians taking part in the democratic process, religion should be left to the individual conscience and not foisted on to people in contexts that are inappropriate," he said.

George McLauchlan, clerk to Bideford Town Council, said the 16-member council has twice rejected attempts by member Councillor Clive Bone to ban prayers at the start of meetings.