Council defeats attempt to end prayers
A motion was submitted to Ryedale District Council for the long-running practice to be discontinued, but members voted against the plans during a meeting on Monday evening.
The motion, put forward by Liberal councillor Tommy Woodward, had not called for prayers to be halted entirely but recommended they be held before meetings in a separate room.
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Hide AdCoun John Clark, the Liberal group’s leader and an agnostic, had suggested the focus on Christianity was inappropriate for a modern society that included many other religions.
Canon John Manchester of Malton had claimed the plans were “a retrograde step”.