November 06, 2004
People's Republic of Islington
This blog got off to an early boost when, on its fourth day of existence, I took on the London Borough of Tower Hamlets over the banning of hot cross buns in schools. Moving north and west and decidedly upmarket is the Borough of Islington, former home of the Blairs. When it comes to the religious aspects of political correctness, Islington is in a whole other league from Tower Hamlets.
Islington wants to force a school to change it's name. St Mary Magdelene Church of England Primary School has been around since 1710. For almost 300 years, there's been no problem. Now Islington council wants it to drop the "Saint" bit because it might cause offense to other religions. It would be better if it and she weren't so closely associated to the Christian God.
But just like the situation with the buns in east London, the only problem is that the other religions don't seems to care. In fact, they seem to think it is silly.
The real motivation is revealed by James Kempton, the children and young people spokesman for the council's ruling Liberal Democrat party. "We need to ensure this is a school which is appropriate for Islington in the 21st century. Church-going is now a much less significant part of people's lives." It is post-Christian secularists that are the ones most likely to be offended.
Rev Malcolm Rogers, vicar of St Mary Magdelene church noted, “There is a perception that Islington council have been running an anti-Christian agenda, consistently on ideological grounds rejecting Christianity.” They aren't opposed to having £2 million in church funds toward the building required to expand the school into a City Academy for ages 5-18. They just insist that it cannot have a religious name.