The National Union of Teachers (NUT) wants all schools actively to promote gay marriage and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) rights to permeate the school curriculum beyond lessons on sex education. Protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is already firmly enshrined within the Equality Act (2010). For the NUT this does not go far enough. It regards the promotion of LGBT rights as so important that it is prepared to ditch the rights of those, such as many faith groups, who do not support gay marriage. In order to promote the rights of one group  forcibly, promote the rights of one group, other groups of people, far greater in number, have to be discriminated against. Pity the poor teacher who will lose his livelihood because his conscience prevents him from actively promoting gay marriage. Pity the faith school that has to choose between closing its doors or betraying its religion. Pity the helpless parent whose child will be subjected to politically correct and Orwellian thought control.

Life expectancy for women has suffered a drop on a scale not seen for decades, as their lifestyles become more like those of men, official figures show. In 2012 there were falls in average life expectancy for females over 60.  Experts said the trend could be the result of changes in the lifestyles of the ‘baby boomer’ generation, with older women more likely to drink regularly and to have smoked, than previous generations. Charities also raised concern that older people are having their lives cut short by reductions in social care spending. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said, ‘The most obvious likely culprit is the rapid decline of state-funded social care in recent years, which is leaving hundreds of thousands of older people to struggle on alone at home without any help.’ She called on the next Government to take urgent action to support the elderly and prevent the downturn becoming the start of a ‘terrible trend.’

Christians are ‘openly derided’ and ‘coolly dismissed’, but their beliefs and work to help others are hugely valuable, Michael Gove has said. The former Education Secretary said that while British culture belittles Christianity on a daily basis, churchgoers’ demonstration of their love for Jesus through service to others is of incalculable importance. Last month an equality watchdog found evidence of widespread discrimination against Christians. Writing in the Spectator magazine, Gove said: ‘Relativism is the orthodoxy of our age so to call yourself a Christian in contemporary Britain is to invite pity, condescension or cool dismissal. But genuine Christian faith - far from making any individual more invincibly convinced of their own righteousness - makes us realise just how flawed and fallible we all are’, he wrote. As the Book of Common Prayer puts it', we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts and there is no health in us.’

New teaching materials exploring issues around sexual consent to be introduced in schools next term. Children as young as 11 are to be given lessons about rape where they will be taught that dressing provocatively does not imply consent to sex, under new teaching plans to be introduced in schools within weeks. Nicky Morgan, the former Education Secretary, has commissioned new guidance advising schools that they should teach pupils about ‘rape myths’ before they are sexually active, as otherwise it may be ‘too late’. Mrs Morgan, who was also Minister for Woman and Qqualities, said that girls today faced ‘unimaginable’ pressures. ‘Mothers at the school gates often tell me about their worries for their daughters. They tell me that on top of the usual stress of school life and teenage years, they want to know their girls are being taught what a healthy relationship looks like and how to say ‘no’,’ she wrote in the Sunday Times. ‘It's our duty to ensure that our daughters leave school able to navigate the challenges and choices they will face in adulthood.’