Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant

Humanists UK accredited funeral & wedding celebrant.

[Iain Dale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 ⚒️ @IainDale]

I will curb my language but that tweet is disgusting. You profess to be an advocate of human rights, and the right to be treated with dignity after death is a basic human right everyone should have, yet you rejoice in her death. Yes, her religion guided her views on equality issues, and I had many disagreements with her, but as a gay man I counted her as a friend, as did many others. She was actually a profoundly kind person. She endorsed my candidacy knowing of my sexuality. She softened her views on equal marriage and told me in 2019 she would not support reversing it.
So be ashamed of yourself today, Peter. You do some great work, but in this instance it's you that's the bigot. Bigoted against the dead, and bringing upset to those of us who counted Ann as a friend. Think on that.

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

Where would we be without the @SpeechUnion

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

📣🚨The Free Speech Union is mounting a legal challenge against the Government over its official definition of Islamophobia — now repackaged as 'anti-Muslim hatred' — and its appointment of a new 'tsar' to punish people who fall foul of it.

This amounts to a Muslim blasphemy law via the back door. The definition is vague and subjective, and will be weaponised to silence legitimate criticism and debate about Islam, Muslims, and Islamic practices and history.

The FSU’s General Secretary, Lord Young of Acton, said: “This is the most serious threat to free speech the Government has come up with so far — the only area in which it’s achieving any success.

“If we don’t win this fight, tens of thousands of people a year could lose their jobs at the say-so of a Labour-appointed ‘tsar’. It’s dystopian.”

Public bodies will adopt this definition — despite it being non-statutory — with the same zeal the police have shown in investigating and recording non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs). It is predicted by one of the drafters of the definition that it could lead to around 20,000 reports of 'anti-Muslim hostility' a year. At present, the number of recorded anti-Muslim hate crimes is around 4,000.

In a free society, no religion should be shielded from legitimate criticism. This proposal places one faith above the rest.

The Free Speech Union is bringing a legal challenge on two grounds.

First, the definition relies on nebulous, legally undefined terms such as “negative and prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims”, making it incoherent and irrational — and ripe for weaponisation.

Second, adopting such a definition cuts across legislation already enacted by Parliament and therefore breaches the public law principle known as “occupying the field”. Under this established public law doctrine, new regulations, put in place by ministers, must not replace existing legislation. It is constitutionally unlawful. In this case, the body responsible for protecting Muslims from discrimination is the Equality and Human Rights Commission, not an anti-Muslim hostility 'tsar'.

Parliament voted to abolish blasphemy laws 18 years ago. We can't let this Government resurrect them via the back door.

This is one of the biggest battles the Free Speech Union has ever taken on in its six years — and we need your help. Judicial reviews are expensive, but this is a fight we felt we had to take on.

Donate to our crowdfunder below👇

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

@TheBarmyArmy Great words which, if you don’t mind, I’ll quote at his funeral

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

I’ve been lucky to have had many celebrities involved in my ceremonies.

Today, it was the turn of the legendary ‘international man of the paranormal,’ himself, Mr. Clinton Baptiste, who delivered a heartfelt message on behalf of John Holt during his funeral today.

[Stephen Evans @Stephenmevans1]

The widespread outrage over Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being barred from the Villa game is a positive sign – our tolerance for antisemitism and appeasement of Islamist intimidation is finally wearing thin.
https://t.co/j6Mmvf9MIA

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

🎶 Not many of you may know this, but the incredible @frankturner is a patron of @Humanists_UK

So, at great personal sacrifice, I'm off to Milan today to see him live. 🎤✨

Fingers crossed 🤞 for a heartfelt chat about all things humanism afterwards! 🤪

#FrankTurner

[Stephen Knight 🎙️ @GSpellchecker]

'Our commitment to free speech is tested not by the words and actions we like, but by those we disagree with and despise'.

Thank you @NatSecSoc & @SpeechUnion for all their invaluable work here. I'm proud to be a member.

A victory for free speech: the Hamit Coskun ruling
https://t.co/2kfkI3DqRU

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

🎉 Exciting news!

To celebrate the government finally recognising humanist marriages in England and Wales, I'm thrilled to announce that any ceremony I conduct until the official change will have the current £56 registrar fee removed from my total bill.

💍✨ #HumanistWeddings

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

https://t.co/zw4zQSs57I

Please consider signing this Peterson T the link to remove the C word (committed) from the dictionary regarding suicide.

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

Well said Smarty!

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Over 30 people a day are arrested for social media posts. This is madness.

Nick Smart is the latest senior officer calling for clarity in the law surrounding the policing of social media posts.

The Chairman of the Police Superintendents’ Association says officers are being “set up to fail” on free speech.

Read more below.

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

Very important day of the year #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

🚨Our fears appear to have been vindicated on the very first day of the Online Safety Act's enactment.

Some footage of protests taking place this evening against illegal immigration is unavailable on X for at least some UK users, with a warning about a restriction due to ‘local laws’ appearing as the Online Safety Act comes into force.

If you have a standard X account in the UK - presumably the majority of British users - it appears that you may not be able to see any protest footage that contains violence. We’re aware of one censored post that shows an arrest being made.

We warned repeatedly about how censorious this piece of legislation would be.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Labour’s plans for ‘Islamophobia’ definition are aimed at shutting down free speech, warns ex-equalities chief

https://t.co/LzAJjehRvq

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

Proud to have taken today my 1,500 @Ceremonies_UK ceremony booking today (from the lovely Rachel at @jtbyrnefunerals ). Thanks to everyone who’s helped me on my 7 and a half year journey!

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

@markbutcher72 That’s lovely - thanks for replying!

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

@markbutcher72’s ears may be ringing today as I conduct the funeral of one of the triumphant Blackpool cricket team of 1990 in the Cockspur Cup. They played against the favourites Cheam, which included a 17 year old Mark Butcher, Ally Brown and Jon Batty!

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

How sad is this!

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

"For the first time since records began, the United Kingdom is no longer classified as an “Open” country in a leading global ranking of freedom of expression..."

https://t.co/w0mUEHK3rx

[Richard Spedding - Humanist Celebrant @spdassistance]

🌟 One of my golden rules for a @Ceremonies_UK funeral is that the tribute (eulogy) should account for around 85 to 90% of all that is said.

To me, a funeral should solely be a heartfelt reflection of the deceased's life and personality, honouring their unique journey.