ALT I know some have accused McKenna and the powers that be in the Church of being stuck in the past but I didn’t expect their living knowledge to predate 1872. That’s the year that the right to withdraw from religious instruction in schools was put into law after recommendations by the Whig(!) Duke of Argyll. Still it’s clear for some that this is a step too far. Better that we see children and teenagers forced - against their own will - to be scunnered listening to Mass or a Kirk minister. McKenna perennially chunters on about falling educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy - an important issue with which I agree there is concern - but not one, may I suggest, to be solved by spending more time dragging pupils out of classrooms to listen to pulpit lectures. Yours, Fraser Sutherland Chief Executive, Humanist Society Scotland

ALT Graphic shows protestors outside Holyrood holding up placards. Text above reads "Assisted dying bill passes first vote in Westminster: but what does it mean for Scotland?"

ALT Graphic with people holding up banner reading "End-of-Life Choice". Text above reads "BREAKING: Initial vote passes for assisted dying in England and Wales."

ALT Joanne speaks at our Festival of Humanism 2024. Text reads "My dad didn't want to die like this: we need assisted dying laws now"