In Depth:  The Christian Institute / Christian Concern

Two Christians were vindicated in December after favourable rulings cleared each of wrongful accusations.

Dale Mcalpine received a £4,000 pay out plus costs from Cumbria police for wrongful arrest. He had been preaching in Kendal in July 2018 when he was arrested.

An official survey revealed in July that most people think the government’s definition of extremism is unhelpful.

Over 2,500 members of the public submitted views to the Commission on Countering Extremism, with 58% saying the definition is ‘very unhelpful’.

In April, a pro-life student university group launched a legal challenge against the University of Aberdeen after its attempts at affiliation were repeatedly rejected by the Students’ Union based on their policy barring pro-life societies on campus.

The Aberdeen Life Ethics Society (ALES) submitted a new society application for affiliation to Aberdeen University’s Societies Union Committee (AUSA). It received an email which said: ‘We unfortunately are unable to affiliate Aberdeen Life Ethics Society as you are directly against an AUSA policy and so we are not allowed to affiliate you. The policy in question can be found at https://www.ausa.org.uk/resources/6045/ AUSA-is-Pro-Choice/ and does not lapse until 2020.’

The government committed in April to making it easier for transsexual people to legally change sex, as part of a review of the Gender Recognition Act.

A spokesman said ministers want to ‘streamline and de-medicalise’ the process for ‘changing a person’s legal gender’. He was responding to several demands by homosexual lobby group Stonewall to ensure that trans people are ‘accepted without exception’.

MSPs have voted in favour of legislation to introduce same-sex marriage in Scotland, despite widespread opposition to the move from members of the public, it was reported in late November.

The Scottish Government’s public consultation produced a record 77,508 responses, with more than two-thirds opposed to the proposals. But 98 MSPs voted in principle for the Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill in the first of three parliamentary stages, while 15 voted against the legislation.