Scientology in the United Kingdom is practised mainly within the Church of Scientology and its related groups which go under names including "Hubbard Academy of Personal Independence" and "Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Centre". The national headquarters, and former global headquarters, is Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, which for seven years was the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the pulp fiction author who created Scientology. In the 2021 census, there were 1,844 individuals in England and Wales who listed themselves as Scientologists in their census returns, almost half of which lived in the area around East Grinstead in West Sussex, which hosts the British Scientology Headquarters at Saint Hill Manor. This is a decline of just under a quarter since census day, 2011.[1]
Church-connected groups promoting aspects of L. Ron Hubbard's teaching, including Narconon and CCHR, have also been active in the UK, in some cases with charitable status. There have also been groups practising Scientology independently of the Church.
Scientology has received critical judgments from British courts, calling it "pernicious nonsense",[2] "dangerous material"[2] and "immoral and socially obnoxious".[3] It has been described in Parliament as a socially harmful enterprise which indoctrinates children and other vulnerable people by "ignorantly practising quasi-psychological techniques".[4] The UK Government's 1971 official report into Scientology was highly critical,[4] as was another report prepared secretly several years later.[5] Since then, the Church has been recognised as a religion by some authorities, but is not itself a registered charity.[6]
The Church has used covert intelligence gathering, harassment and smear campaigns against its UK opponents, although not on as large a scale as it has in the United States.[7]
^"Religion, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
^ abHudson 2005, p. 881
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^ abMarshall 1990, pp. 178–179
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