4 questions for Anne Marie Waters and secularists voting UKIP

Britain’s European elections are in three weeks, with the right-wing UK Independence Party predicted first place.

This blog’s core readers aren’t likely to vote for them, but the party has startling support in parts of UK secularism. Anne Marie Waters, who serves on the National Secular Society’s board of directors, was this month announced as UKIP’s 2015 candidate for Basildon, joining supporters like Pat Condell. (Her site now voices rather sudden fears about ‘erosion of British democracy and identity as a result of our membership of the European Union’.)

Given UKIP’s policies, I have questions for Waters and secularists tempted to vote for them.

1. What will secularists do without human rights laws?

The European Convention on Human Rights was a key part of recent years’ court success against homophobic B&B owners, and was cited initially in the NSS’s 2012 case against council prayers. UKIP want Britain to withdraw from it.

The Human Rights Act 1998, modelled on it and passed by Labour to make filing human rights cases easier, is cited frequently – not least by Waters – as demanding abolition of the UK’s 80-plus sharia courts; it’s also referenced by critics of state-maintained ‘faith’ schools. UKIP want to repeal it. (In a likely case of far-right influencing so-called centre-right, the Conservatives have now pledged to do so if reelected.)

Britain, unlike the US, is not constitutionally secular. Without an establishment clause dividing religion and state, these laws are the most powerful we have prohibiting religious privilege and abuse. This renders them essential to work like the NSS’s: scapping them as UKIP propose would make campaigns like those above inordinately harder if not impossible.

2. With Ofsted gone, what will stop fundamentalist schools?

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) does exactly what its name implies, inspecting schools on everything from teaching to pastoral care – a remit which includes maintaining satisfactory science lessons, sex education and social diversity, areas mounting fundamentalism threatens.

While different schools have varying degrees of exemption from Ofsted’s rules, religious ones among them, and there’s evidence it’s granted some extremists far too much leeway, its watchdog role keeps many in check. According to a recent Guardian report, the current government’s ‘free schools’ – often religious, startable by anyone and with no requirement for qualified teachers – fail inspections at three times the average rate; the Office is currently investigating Islamists’ leaked plot in Birmigham to gain control of city schools.

The logical need from a secularist viewpoint is for more robust deployment of Ofsted’s powers. UKIP’s latest manifesto, meanwhile, promised ‘Ofsted will be abolished’, opening potential floodgates to a tidal wave of religious malpractice. (Perhaps on science teaching specifically, we shouldn’t have expected much: it also boasts the party, which ‘look[s] favourably on home education’, is the first ‘to take a sceptical stance on man-made global warming claims’.)

3. What do UKIP votes mean for a secular state?

The 2010 manifesto further states UKIP ‘oppose disestablishment of the Church of England’; around the same time, their website added ‘and believe the Monarch should remain Defender of the Faith – faith being the Church of England.’

The web page in question is now empty, and leader Nigel Farage has publicly distanced himself from the manifesto, arguing that since he wasn’t in office in May 2010, its doesn’t reflect UKIP under him. (He fails to mention that he was, in fact, leader from 2006 to 2009.) Current events suggest, however, that change is unlikely.

When David Cameron, amid cabinet praise for the Church of England, used his Easter message to declare ‘We should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organisations, and, frankly, more evangelical’, Farage replied on behalf of his party:

We have been saying for years that we should be more muscular in our defence of Judaeo-Christian culture, and after all, we have a Christian constitution. The Church of England is the established church of this country. What Cameron is doing, once again, was really mimicking what UKIP have been saying.

What happens, as such a party gains support, to prospects for a secular state?

4. What’s UKIP’s record on religious sexism and homophobia?

The NSS has long made equality and human rights a keystone of its work. Many self-declared secularists supporting UKIP and other far-right groups, in fact, do so ostensibly out of commitment to these goals – in particular, to ‘save’ women and gay people from invading Muslims. Beside opposing key laws that safeguard them against religious abuse, then, what’s UKIP’s record on LGBT and women’s rights?

In 2012 David Coburn, spokesperson for the party’s National Executive Committee, described government same-sex marriage support as ‘an aggressive attack on people of faith, and an act of intolerance in itself’. In 2013, all but one of UKIP’s MEPs voted to halt progress on a motion in the European Parliament for increased provision of reproductive rights and women’s sexual health information. (The NSS lobbied for the bill; religious groups opposed it.) The exception was deputy leader Paul Nuttall, who appears not to have been present. Nuttall himself belongs to the mainly religious Society for the Protection Unborn Children and has spoken at their meetings. SPUC calls for a ban on all abortions, as well as numerous forms of birth control.

UKIP’s candidates, councillors and MEPs have furthermore called female audience members sluts whose place was cleaning fridges, called feminists ‘shrill, bored, middle class women of a certain physical genre’ and denied ‘the impossibility of the creationist theory’, called bisexual and transgender people part-time homosexuals, blamed floods on gay marriage and promised to scrap ‘politically correct laws’ that ‘made it possible for lifestyle choices to be placed above religious faith’. These may be individual views rather than policies, but is a party that attracts such people in large numbers good for secularists?

UKIP’s politics, in letter and in spirit, are anti-secular by nature; there are many arguments against a vote for them, but supporting them means siding with a party that consistently opposes disestablishment, appeals to the religious right, allies with them against minorities and women, imperils science and education and welcomes fundamentalists. Their mission is in zero-sum conflict with those of groups like the NSS, in whose place I’d be concerned to have their members on my council of management.

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4 questions for Anne Marie Waters and secularists voting UKIP
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11 thoughts on “4 questions for Anne Marie Waters and secularists voting UKIP

  1. 1

    All the people I know who support UKIP are part of the straggling remnant of ex-ACE staff/students in my Facebook friends. I had no idea there was any significant support for UKIP among secularists, and I’m shocked. Thanks Alex.

    1. 1.1

      @jonnyscaramanga (#1)

      I do think it’s a fringe, both of secularism and UKIP’s vote base – but I also think it’s a numerically significant fringe, and a politically well-placed one.

  2. 7

    […] 4 questions for Anne Marie Waters and secularists voting UKIP …………………………………………………………….. 10 things atheist groups can do to take on class exclusion …………………………………………………………….. 25 comments from this blogger’s school reports …………………………………………………………….. 99 ways I’ve personally been victimised by religion …………………………………………………………….. A media that paints puritans and fanatics as mainstream forfeits its right to condemn them …………………………………………………………….. A memoir in a month (a coming-out story you’ve never heard before) …………………………………………………………….. A queer atheist’s survival guide: thoughts from my friends’ church wedding …………………………………………………………….. A very British nightmare: 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle’s anti-imperialist zombie flick …………………………………………………………….. Ann Widdecombe: in the good old days, you could still be a Nazi …………………………………………………………….. Are British Muslims a threat to gay people? Polling on homophobia, sharia law and violence …………………………………………………………….. Atheist society harassed by student union at LSE freshers’ fair …………………………………………………………….. Bisexuality’s supposed ease: another letter to Dan Savage …………………………………………………………….. Bisi Alimi: Anglicanism spurred Africa’s homophobic clampdowns …………………………………………………………….. Bonding with history: Skyfall’s postmodern 007 …………………………………………………………….. Cameron’s Britain: this property-owning democracy is no place for queer youth …………………………………………………………….. Catching Fire straightwashes its stars …………………………………………………………….. Chutney, pineapples and flying spaghetti: why atheism can never be inoffensive enough …………………………………………………………….. Class dismissed: how I went from homelessness to Oxford, and what Richard Dawkins has nightmares about …………………………………………………………….. Conchita Wurst never needed your acceptance …………………………………………………………….. Dear Pat Condell… why this homo-Islamic masochist rejects your anti-Muslim crusade …………………………………………………………….. Elliot Rodger was a jihadist – for organised misogyny, if not for organised religion …………………………………………………………….. Engaging Andrew Sullivan’s transphobia …………………………………………………………….. First (and unenthusiastic) thoughts on "The Day of the Doctor" …………………………………………………………….. Foes of Dorothy: queerphobia, bigotry and The Wizard of Oz …………………………………………………………….. Gentle, loving Jesus – not fundamentalism – drove this queer teen to suicide attempts …………………………………………………………….. God and the ghost in the machine: atheism, transhumanism and Spike Jonze’s Her …………………………………………………………….. Going Soul-o: one young atheist’s week at Christian camp …………………………………………………………….. Grandmother, you’re a bully – and I’m disowning you …………………………………………………………….. How filesharing in Germany cost me $3000 …………………………………………………………….. How not to write about bisexuality …………………………………………………………….. I’m not sorry atheists are divided …………………………………………………………….. I’m proud to be “ideological” …………………………………………………………….. In defence of Quantum of Solace …………………………………………………………….. In defence of the war on Christmas …………………………………………………………….. In the Flesh: the best LGBT series since Queer as Folk …………………………………………………………….. Karma chameleon: the many voices of Alom Shaha …………………………………………………………….. Lady Gaga and the burqa: it’s personal …………………………………………………………….. Man of Steel: you’ll believe this turkey can fly …………………………………………………………….. No more tears: Michael Sam and the camera’s fetish for queer crying …………………………………………………………….. No, Tom Daley didn’t just call himself a gay man …………………………………………………………….. No, gay marriage won’t fucking well stop HIV …………………………………………………………….. Nothing to declare: praise for Jodie Foster and the politics of coming out …………………………………………………………….. On Honeygate …………………………………………………………….. On the marvellously pathetic death of Fred Phelps, 1929-2014 …………………………………………………………….. On Stephen Fry’s letter and Russia: the oppression olympics …………………………………………………………….. Pragna Patel: the right to blaspheme is “a matter of life and death” …………………………………………………………….. Reading University has banned its atheist society. Why? Because they named a pineapple Muhammad …………………………………………………………….. Review: the Slymepit’s new photoshop of me is stylish, but fails to convince …………………………………………………………….. Richard Dawkins won’t condemn ‘mild’ child molestation …………………………………………………………….. Rolf Harris: the day it turned out nice men can be predators …………………………………………………………….. Secularism is not PC. Britain’s government should know …………………………………………………………….. Sexual identity, secularity and politics: Alex Gabriel and Greta Christina in conversation …………………………………………………………….. Sexual orientation is not sexual identity: celebrating Bisexual Visibility Day …………………………………………………………….. Shouting arson in a crowded theatre: rape reports, reputations and reasonable suspicion …………………………………………………………….. Smash the closet! 10 alternative coming out tips for young people …………………………………………………………….. Terms of engagement: why the Dawkins-Benson pact is meaningful …………………………………………………………….. The Dawkins Cycle: an infographic …………………………………………………………….. The trouble with Captain America: The Winter Soldier …………………………………………………………….. To the atheist tone police: stop telling me how to discuss my abuse …………………………………………………………….. Unsex me here! Gender, Julie Bindel and Gia Milinovich …………………………………………………………….. Why you won’t catch me mocking “think-pieces” ……………………………………
    ……………………….. Weird and wonderful: why Matt Smith’s Doctor was better than David Tennant’s …………………………………………………………….. What actually happened at Edinburgh Central Mosque …………………………………………………………….. “What’s truth got to do with it?” On Bennett’s History Boys and contrarianism …………………………………………………………….. Yasmin Nair: challenging gay marriage’s false history “is not simply the celebration of outsider status” …………………………………………………………….. Yes, Richard Dawkins, your statements on Islam are racist …………………………………………………………….. You want sex? So stop asking for coffee […]

  3. 8

    […] 4 questions for Anne Marie Waters and secularists voting UKIP …………………………………………………………….. 10 things atheist groups can do to take on class exclusion …………………………………………………………….. 25 comments from this blogger’s school reports …………………………………………………………….. 99 ways I’ve personally been victimised by religion …………………………………………………………….. A media that paints puritans and fanatics as mainstream forfeits its right to condemn them …………………………………………………………….. A memoir in a month (a coming-out story you’ve never heard before) …………………………………………………………….. A queer atheist’s survival guide: thoughts from my friends’ church wedding …………………………………………………………….. A very British nightmare: 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle’s anti-imperialist zombie flick …………………………………………………………….. Ann Widdecombe: in the good old days, you could still be a Nazi …………………………………………………………….. Are British Muslims a threat to gay people? Polling on homophobia, sharia law and violence …………………………………………………………….. Atheist society harassed by student union at LSE freshers’ fair …………………………………………………………….. Bisexuality’s supposed ease: another letter to Dan Savage …………………………………………………………….. Bisi Alimi: Anglicanism spurred Africa’s homophobic clampdowns …………………………………………………………….. Bonding with history: Skyfall’s postmodern 007 …………………………………………………………….. Cameron’s Britain: this property-owning democracy is no place for queer youth …………………………………………………………….. Catching Fire straightwashes its stars …………………………………………………………….. Chutney, pineapples and flying spaghetti: why atheism can never be inoffensive enough …………………………………………………………….. Class dismissed: how I went from homelessness to Oxford, and what Richard Dawkins has nightmares about …………………………………………………………….. Conchita Wurst never needed your acceptance …………………………………………………………….. Dear Pat Condell… why this homo-Islamic masochist rejects your anti-Muslim crusade …………………………………………………………….. Elliot Rodger was a jihadist – for organised misogyny, if not for organised religion …………………………………………………………….. Engaging Andrew Sullivan’s transphobia …………………………………………………………….. First (and unenthusiastic) thoughts on "The Day of the Doctor" …………………………………………………………….. Foes of Dorothy: queerphobia, bigotry and The Wizard of Oz …………………………………………………………….. Gentle, loving Jesus – not fundamentalism – drove this queer teen to suicide attempts …………………………………………………………….. God and the ghost in the machine: atheism, transhumanism and Spike Jonze’s Her …………………………………………………………….. Going Soul-o: one young atheist’s week at Christian camp …………………………………………………………….. Grandmother, you’re a bully – and I’m disowning you …………………………………………………………….. How filesharing in Germany cost me $3000 …………………………………………………………….. How not to write about bisexuality …………………………………………………………….. I’m not sorry atheists are divided …………………………………………………………….. I’m proud to be “ideological” …………………………………………………………….. In defence of Quantum of Solace …………………………………………………………….. In defence of the war on Christmas …………………………………………………………….. In the Flesh: the best LGBT series since Queer as Folk …………………………………………………………….. Karma chameleon: the many voices of Alom Shaha …………………………………………………………….. Lady Gaga and the burqa: it’s personal …………………………………………………………….. Man of Steel: you’ll believe this turkey can fly …………………………………………………………….. No more tears: Michael Sam and the camera’s fetish for queer crying …………………………………………………………….. No, Tom Daley didn’t just call himself a gay man …………………………………………………………….. No, gay marriage won’t fucking well stop HIV …………………………………………………………….. Nothing to declare: praise for Jodie Foster and the politics of coming out …………………………………………………………….. On Honeygate …………………………………………………………….. On the marvellously pathetic death of Fred Phelps, 1929-2014 …………………………………………………………….. On Stephen Fry’s letter and Russia: the oppression olympics …………………………………………………………….. Pragna Patel: the right to blaspheme is “a matter of life and death” …………………………………………………………….. Reading University has banned its atheist society. Why? Because they named a pineapple Muhammad …………………………………………………………….. Review: the Slymepit’s new photoshop of me is stylish, but fails to convince …………………………………………………………….. Richard Dawkins won’t condemn ‘mild’ child molestation …………………………………………………………….. Rolf Harris: the day it turned out nice men can be predators …………………………………………………………….. Secularism is not PC. Britain’s government should know …………………………………………………………….. Sexual identity, secularity and politics: Alex Gabriel and Greta Christina in conversation …………………………………………………………….. Sexual orientation is not sexual identity: celebrating Bisexual Visibility Day …………………………………………………………….. Shouting arson in a crowded theatre: rape reports, reputations and reasonable suspicion …………………………………………………………….. Smash the closet! 10 alternative coming out tips for young people …………………………………………………………….. Terms of engagement: why the Dawkins-Benson pact is meaningful …………………………………………………………….. The Dawkins Cycle: an infographic …………………………………………………………….. The trouble with Captain America: The Winter Soldier …………………………………………………………….. To the atheist tone police: stop telling me how to discuss my abuse …………………………………………………………….. Unsex me here! Gender, Julie Bindel and Gia Milinovich …………………………………………………………….. Why you won’t catch me mocking “think-pieces” ……………………………………
    ……………………….. Weird and wonderful: why Matt Smith’s Doctor was better than David Tennant’s …………………………………………………………….. What actually happened at Edinburgh Central Mosque …………………………………………………………….. “What’s truth got to do with it?” On Bennett’s History Boys and contrarianism …………………………………………………………….. Yasmin Nair: challenging gay marriage’s false history “is not simply the celebration of outsider status” …………………………………………………………….. Yes, Richard Dawkins, your statements on Islam are racist …………………………………………………………….. You want sex? So stop asking for coffee […]

  4. 9

    […] UKIP’s politics, in letter and in spirit, are anti-secular by nature; there are many arguments against a vote for them, but supporting them means siding with a party that consistently opposes disestablishment, appeals to the religious right, allies with them against minorities and women, imperils science and education and welcomes fundamentalists. Their mission is in zero-sum conflict with those of groups like the NSS, in whose place I’d be concerned to have their members on my council of management. [Alex Gabriel] […]

  5. 10

    We have been saying for years that we should be more muscular in our defence of Judaeo-Christian culture

    When politicians say they want to get more “muscular” that is code for getting violent. How do they plan on promoting christianity through this additional muscle? Whose ox will get gored?

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