A Bill about councils’ ‘freedom to pray’ has received support from the Government and the Labour Party. During a debate on the issue, Jake Berry MP, who proposed the Bill, encouraged public officials to reflect on the power of prayer over and above government actions. The Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Bill is due to be considered by a committee of MPs in January. Speaking earlier this month Berry said he was ‘delighted’ to take the Bill about people’s freedom to pray through Parliament, because ‘it is an important issue’. All elected officials might like to reflect that there may be more power in prayer than in any stroke of a Minister’s pen or ruling from the Chair’. Penny Mordaunt, a Government minister for Communities and Local Government, commented: ‘The Bill will not compel anyone to pray or any local authority to include prayers in their official business.'