I FEEL uneasy about the proposal to make Hartford High School a faith school.

In our increasingly multi-cultural, secular society, a school governed by one particular faith would appear to be an anachronism.

Our future king has expressed a wish to be the defender of faiths and not a defender of the faith.

Changes to the royal marriage and succession laws are being actively discussed. These changes could remove the monarch as head of the Church of England and allow a future monarch to be of any or no particular faith.

I am also uneasy about the proposed rule whereby 15 per cent of school places would be reserved for children of Christian families. If a situation were to arise where a child from a non-Christian family were to be refused a place under this rule, then the school could be guilty of religious discrimination. If this form of discrimination is permitted under current legislation, then the school would still be morally guilty.

I am concerned by the statement that the Diocese of Chester would probably delegate governance and policy-making to St John’s Church in Hartford, giving a potentially evangelical or non-mainstream slant to policies governing admissions and curriculum.

I firmly believe that we should make religion and education totally separate when it comes to governance and policy-making.

DAVID AINSBURY Egerton Avenue, Hartford