The Rt Hon. Stephen Timms MP welcomed those present and introduced himself as chair of the APPG and MP for East Ham. He said that the background to the meeting was the growing concern that an assumption is appearing in public policy that if someone is religious, they are suspected of being an extremist. This emerges in the Prevent policy and in the recent announcement that Ofsted will be inspecting Sunday schools and other faith activities for young people. The APPG exists to highlight positive...

The Rt Hon. Stephen Timms MP welcomed everyone and thanked FaithAction for providing the secretariat to the APPG on Faith and Society. He introduced the report Living with Difference published in December by the Commission on Religion and Belief (CORAB), chaired by Baroness Butler-Sloss. The report discusses a wide range of pressing issues and draws a number of conclusions, some widely accepted and others contested. Stephen expressed gratitude to the report’s authors for mentioning the Covenant, developed by the APPG to promote engagement between local...