general election 2010

Coinciding with the demonstration outside Conservative HQ this afternoon, George Osborne has announced new plans to tackle homophobic bullying in faith schools.

In summary they are:

• Freeing heads to exclude homophobic bullies

• Giving teachers the power to stop violent homophobic incidents (“Teachers are often unable to break up violent homophobic bullying because of the lack of clarity over use of force”)

• New guidance on bullying aggravated by prejudice (“non-violent bullying aggravated by prejudice like homophobia should result in tougher punishments than other forms of persistently disruptive behaviour...we believe that all forms of violent bullying should continue to lead to some form of exclusion”)

• Recording incidents of homophobic abuse

Steve Chalke was on Radio 4’s Sunday Programme this morning suggesting the churches should stop ‘bleating’ (his word) about their loss of power and influence at the general election. He also explained that he had refused to sign the ‘Westminster Declaration’ signed by conservative church leaders, on the basis that churches should not present themselves as holding the ‘balance of power’ or as a religious block to be won over by the parties. (It's also very narrow in focus)