"It could be worse". That's our immediate take on the speech King Charles delivered in Parliament setting out the legislative plans of 'his' new Labour government.
But it's not saying much! The most obviously dangerous proposal is a draft Bill to ban conversion practices in England and Wales. This is a direct attack on traditionalist Christians trying to resist the LGBTQ agenda
It’s not about protecting people from verbal or physical abuse because those things are already illegal. Those campaigning for a ban – those the Government is trying to placate – are openly calling for it to cover “casual conversations”, “gentle, non-coercive prayer” and “repentances”. They expressly want it to target ‘conservative evangelicals’. They want to imitate Victoria, Australia, where parents who refuse to consent to their gender-confused children going on puberty blockers have been threatened with prosecution for ‘conversion therapy’ and where the state has issued official guidance on how you may and may not pray – including warning against praying a about repentance.
Home education
Another issue is a proposal for a register of home-educated children. Many of us experienced the joys and challenges of home education during the COVID lockdowns. Many others, Christian and non-Christian, choose home education. Some do so to protect their children from problems at their local schools or to properly meet their Special Educational Needs. It’s not for everyone. But it’s a vital freedom, especially where the state seeks to undermine the legitimate role of parents in inculcating values in their own children. A state register of home-educators risks undermining this freedom. After all, where the state provides education, it does so on behalf of parents, not the other way around. Parents don’t educate their children on behalf of the State.
There are concerns about absenteeism from schools, but these children are already on a register: the school register. Home-educated children are a different group. Existing law requires parents to provide full-time education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
There are also plans to deal with illegal schools. This is a legitimate concern, of course. But those of us who remember the last Government’s plans to regulate Sunday Schools in the name of tackling illegal schools can be forgiven for being cautious about what these proposals might mean. We will have to wait and see.
Finally, the new regime includes a large number of fanatical pro-abortionists. Despite the lack of coverage of this issue in the King's Speech, it is clear that this pro-death lobby will seek to advance its push towards totally unrestricted child-murder at every possible opportunity.