| The Prime Minister's office declares "creationism" and "Intelligent Design" to be religious beliefs, not science. Guidelines to be published soon.
UK Government - Creationism and Intelligent Design Out of School Science The U.K. government has defined "Intelligent Design," the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without the help of a greater intelligence, and "creationism" as religion and ruled that neither has a place within the country's school science curriculum.
This was in reaction to an electronic petition launched by James Rocks of the "Science, Just Science" campaign, a group formed to oppose "Truth in Science" and other groups in the anti-evolution lobby in the UK. The petition was signed by 1,505 people.
In the petition details, Rocks wrote, "Creationism & Intelligent design are greatly featured in the media and are being used disingenuously to portray science & the theory of evolution as being in crisis when they are not. Moreover groups such as Truth in Science are targeting our nation's children and their science education with material that is not only non-scientific but have been rejected by the scientific community. These ideas therefore do not constitute science, cannot be considered scientific education and therefore do not belong in the nation's science classrooms."
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office replied: "The (UK) Government is aware that a number of concerns have been raised in the media and elsewhere as to whether creationism and intelligent design have a place in science lessons. The [UK] Government is clear that creationism and intelligent design are not part of the science National Curriculum programmes of study and should not be taught as science."
The government will also be "publishing guidance for schools, on the way creationism and intelligent design relate to science teaching."
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