Support inclusive Remembrance ceremonies

The British Humanist Association and Defence Humanists are advocating for the inclusion of representatives of the non-religious at the Remembrance Day services in November 2016. This year marks 100 years since World War I’s Battle of the Somme, which saw the greatest number of casualties in British military history.

We are urging our supporters to highlight the ever-increasing voices of humanists demanding a change in the current stance of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the UK Government.

Contact your MP and let them know that they have your support in making our National Service more inclusive! We’ve provided a stock letter that is automatically addressed to your local MP – but we strongly recommend you to personalise your letter to add to the weight of its argument.

Please e-mail your MP, to ask them to clarify their position on this important issue and encourage them to support the campaign and raise the issue with the responsible Secretary of State, John Whittingdale MP (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport).

Please do forward a copy of any response you receive to the BHA, as it may help to make our campaign even more effective.

We’ve put some suggested text for an email in the box below – please feel free to edit it and add to it as you wish. Your MP will be more likely to take notice of personalised emails and queries, so if you feel you can make your own arguments, please do so! For example:

• If you are a serving member of the Armed Forces or the Ministry of Defence, you could use your experience to add weight to your argument...
• If you are a veteran of the armed forces and want to use your past experience to help support your story...
• If you a relative of a serving member or Veteran of the Armed Forces or the Ministry of Defence and want to relate their stories to your argument...

If you have any other queries, please contact us at campaigns@humanism.org.uk.

You can read more about our campaigns in this area on our website.