The Liberal Democrats have backed a motion to end Christian assemblies in schools. At the party’s conference last week, delegates voted to repeal the existing legal requirement for all state-funded schools to hold acts of collective worship of a broadly Christian character. But a motion to ban faith-based selection in state-funded schools was defeated, after Business Secretary Vince Cable and Justice Minister Simon Hughes said it risked ‘really serious harm’. Earlier this year, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, who chairs the Church of England’s board of education, said Christian school assemblies should be replaced with a time of ‘spiritual reflection’. He claimed changing the law could be ‘liberating’ for schools and churches. However, an editorial in The Daily Telegraph said replacing Christian assemblies would be a ‘fundamental change’, adding that there is ‘no evidence’ to show that parents object to their children being exposed to Christian themes. (See also Prayer Alert 25-2014)