FORMAL PRAYERS at council meetings in England and Wales have been banned by the high court in London after it ruled in favour of a test case taken by an atheist councillor and the National Secular Society.
In its ruling, the high court said prayers at the beginning of the monthly meeting of Bideford town council in north Devon were not lawful because local authorities had no specific powers over them.
However, Conservative secretary of state for communities Eric Pickles said the ruling would be reversed “within a week” because of recently-passed legislation to increase local powers.
Condemning the ruling, a former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, said the high court’s decision represented the “silencing” of the Christian voice in Britain.
He warned the National Secular Society would now turn to legal action to stop prayers being said at the opening of sessions in parliament and elsewhere in British public life.
The legal challenge began in July 2010 after a member of the town council, Clive Bone, an atheist, protested against prayers being said. He subsequently quit in protest.
The high court, however, did not find in favour of the National Secular Society’s argument that non-religious people were being “indirectly discriminated against” by public prayers.
Instead, it found that prayers were not lawful on narrower grounds because councils had no specific authority under 1972 local government legislation to say them.
Last night, Bideford town council said it was considering whether to appeal, noting the high court had said that prayers may be said in the council chamber before the formal opening of business.
The National Secular Society’s Keith Porteous Wood said it was pleased at the court’s “clear secular message”, adding that all council meetings should be “equally welcoming” to all councillors, whether religious or not.
The Christian Institute, which defends religious observance and guaranteed to underwrite the Devon council’s legal bill, said it welcomed the ruling that prayers were not discriminatory.
“But it is extraordinary to rule that councils have no lawful authority to choose, if they so wish, to start their formal meetings with prayers. That is simply wrong.
“The logic of the ruling is that councils would also be going beyond the law if they took a vote and decided to start each formal council meeting with the national anthem,” said the institute’s Simon Calvert.
