The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today launched a campaign to remove reserved seats for the Bishops from the House of Lords. The campaign, “Holy Redundant”, follows on from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill reporting on Monday in support of the Government’s proposals to keep reserved seats for Bishops in a reformed second chamber by a vote of 13-7.

Professor Richard Dawkins, Vice President and Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association (BHA), has this week been announced as the recipient of the BHA's prestigious Services to Humanism award, which will be presented at the gala dinner at the BHA Annual Conference in Cardiff on Saturday 9 June.

Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was the winner of this year's award for Secularist of the Year. He was presented with the £5,000 Irwin Prize by the author and freedom of expression campaigner Nick Cohen at an event hosted by the National Secular Society last Saturday, March 17. The audience included prominent scientists, journalists, campaigners and writers including Richard Dawkins, Lord Taverne, Joan Smith, Oliver Kamm, Professor Peter Atkins and Maryam Namazie.

Following a tour that began in Sydney, Australia last September, an extraordinary theatre production called “Can We Talk About This?” opened at the National Theatre in London on 9 March.

A severely paralysed man campaigning for a doctor to be permitted to lawfully end his life has won the right for his case to be heard. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed the ruling by the court, describing it as “important opportunity for a complex case to be fairly and properly considered”.

This year's Secularist of the Year prize will be presented on Saturday 17 March at the annual lunch in central London. This year the award will be presented by journalist and author Nick Cohen.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed today’s release of new Ipsos MORI research, commissioned by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science UK (RDFRS UK). The data analyses the beliefs and practices of people who ticked ‘Christian’ on the 2011 UK Census, and shows that many of them have no religious beliefs and no habits of religious practice.

Britain’s High Court today ruled that local councils cannot include public prayer in their formal meetings. IHEU member organizations the National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association welcomed the court’s decision that "The saying of prayers as part of the formal meeting of a Council is not lawful under s111 of the Local Government Act 1972, and there is no statutory power permitting the practice to continue".

The Rally for Free Expression will take place at the Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Lords, from 14:00-16:00 hours, on Saturday February 11. http://www.iheu.org/humanists-rally-free-expression

The International Humanist and Ethical Union has joined with its member organization One Law for All to hold a Rally for Free Expression in London on 11 February. The rally was organized to respond to the recent spate of attacks on free speech in the UK, including threats and censorship directed at Humanist student groups at the University of London (see IHEU stories at  http://www.iheu.org/humanists-condemn-another-attack-atheist-expression-london-university and at http://www.iheu.org/threats-violence-force-cancellation-university-talk-sharia-law).