IS THERE A POST-SECULAR FOREIGN POLICY? A UK PERSPECTIVE

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Notes

1. For example, on December 16, 2011, David Cameron called the UK “a Christian country,” highlighting what he considered to be the “positive role” religion can play in society. The following February, Baroness Warsi emphasized “the importance of the Established Church and our Christian heritage” (see https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-warsi-speech-in-the-holy-see (accessed June 22, 2013).

2. I use the term “official” to describe all employees of Her Majesty's Government (including those working for central government departments as well as the diplomatic and security services) as distinct from “politicians” (elected representatives of Her Majesty's Government).

3. On October 29, 2013, at the World Islamic Economic Forum, held in London, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would be the first non-Muslim-majority country to offer an “Islamic bond,” which would help make London “stand alongside Dubai as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world” (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24722440 (accessed January 17, 2013). Significantly, Saida Warsi has been at the forefront of this agenda and, the same day, announced the establishment of 10 Chevening Scholarships (for overseas students to study in the UK) in Islamic Finance.

4. Saida Warsi was Conservative Party Co-Chair between May 2010 and September 2012 and the first Muslim woman to serve in a UK Cabinet. However, after controversies over parliamentary expenses and a minor breach of the Ministerial Code, she was shuffled from the Chairmanship to a new post as Senior Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Then on August 5, 2014, as this issue of the journal was going to press, Baroness Warsi resigned from her post at the FCO.

5. On February 7, 2011, then Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell addressed the General Synod of the Church of England, speaking about the contribution nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations make to development. During the speech, he announced the establishment of a “steering group which will work together with those who lead the faith communities, to try to work out how we can take this partnership further.” For full text of the speech, see Report of Proceedings, February 2011 http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1240726/feb%202011%20consolidated%20with%20index.pdf (accessed April 1, 2014).

6. For example, on February 18, 2012, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles defended the right of Local Councils to begin meetings with prayer effectively overturning a High Court Ruling, explaining “We will stand for freedom to worship, for Parliamentary sovereignty, and for long-standing British liberties.” For more on this incident, see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eric-pickles-gives-councils-back-the-freedom-to-pray--2 (accessed March 12, 2014).

7. There are two significant exceptions to this. First, in the aftermath of the suspected murder of Lee Rigby, a British army soldier, in May 2013 by two men claiming “the only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers” (see transcript in the Daily Telegraph, May 23, 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10075488/Woolwich-attack-the-terrorists-rant.html, accessed June 1, 2013), the Prime Minister established an “extremism task force” to review counter-radicalization policy. Second, in light of a recent decision by a London judge to allow a woman to stand trial while wearing a full-face veil but not to give evidence with her face covered (“the ability of the jury to see the defendant for the purposes of evaluating her evidence is crucial”), Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne has called for a national debate on the wearing of veils in public explaining that while “We should be very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression,” there may be circumstances where a full-face veil is not appropriate. For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24112067 (accessed September 20, 2013).

8. Although a number of Government departments employ “faith advisers” and there are specific officials with responsibility for engagement with religious communities and organizations vis-à-vis particular policy goals (e.g. integration, religious freedom, and international development), there is no coordination of effort at working level.

9. The 2010 Equality Act codified a range of anti-discrimination legislation and includes a requirement for all protected groups' equal treatment by, employment in, and access to both private and public services. Protected characteristics are identified in the act as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. For more on the Act, see http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents (accessed August 31, 2013).

10. Popularized by Althusser (1984), the philosophical idea of “intepellation” describes the process by which an ideology—expressed through social and political institutions—addresses an individual creating an identity and making him/her the subject of that ideology.

Additional information

Jane Lindsay graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2005, before joining the UK Civil Service “Fast Stream” program. She developed her government career in a variety of corporate and policy development positions, most recently acting as senior policy adviser in security and counter-terrorism policy to the National Security Council. In 2010, she took a career break from this post to complete her Ph.D., on completion of which she will return to Government.