Children must not be told to go to Christian school assemblies because it contradicts their human rights.
This is according to a United Nations committee report that called on the UK to repeal a law that forces pupils to take part in mainly Christian services at school. It was one of 150 recommendations on areas where the UK could be falling foul of the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child.
However a Christian MP ridiculed the suggestion as "ludicrous". David Burrowes, Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, said the government should "respectfully" respond by putting the report in the bin.
The report said: "The Committee is concerned that pupils are required by law to take part in a daily religious worship which is "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character" in publicly funded schools in England and Wales, and that children do not have the right to withdraw from such worship without parental permission before entering the sixth form. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, children do not have right to withdraw from collective worship without parental permission."
It added: "The Committee recommends that the State party repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious worship at school."
It also called for the government to take a tougher line on domestic abuse to prevent children from being smacked by parents.
However Burrowes told The Telegraph: "The collective act of worship is not an indoctrination exercise. It is recognising and respecting the Christian heritage of the country and giving people an opportunity to reflect before the beginning of the day".
"The UN should spend more time doing its main job of preventing war and genocide rather than poking its nose in other countries' classrooms. We can respectfully put those kind of reports in the bin where they belong."
