An article about Accord has been published on the Progress website. An extract is below, but to read the whole thing you can go to the Progress site.

“If Labour has been at its best when at its boldest, then that certainly hasn’t been when dealing with the issues around faith schools—a point that was not lost on James Purnell who recently branded the government ‘allergic’ to discussing the topic.

Even since Alan Johnson’s ‘fastest u-turn in political history’ over plans to introduce admissions quotas for faith schools, ministers have done a good job of pretending that there isn’t even a debate to be had.

Part of the reason for that reluctance has been the (sometimes correct) perception that the faith schools debate can too quickly become polarised. If the debate is faith v secularism, or choice v equality then it is little wonder that some think it is best to steer well clear.

If that perception was ever right, it is no longer. For the last year the Accord Coalition has brought together religious and non-religious voices who share serious concerns about the way that faith schools operate. Accord takes no position on the principle of whether faith schools should exist. The reason is not only that our members have different views on that question: it is that we don’t think it is the most crucial issue. What we instead focus on are the basic standards of non-discrimination that all state-funded schools should follow.”