Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Robert Cann said:

‘This is outrageous behaviour by the Archdiocese, discriminating against a well-regarded children’s author, whose work has been celebrated far and wide, simply because his work promotes LGBT acceptance. The result is that children, including LGBT children, are missing out on learning that LGBT people should be celebrated, and their relationships should be respected just like those of straight people.

‘Dioceses should not have the power to block lessons that promote inclusion under the Equality Act, and they should not be able to sack governors who support such lessons. We will be calling on the authorities to intervene to prevent this from ever happening again.’