The Government has “no plans” to require ritual circumcisers to use anaesthesia, and refuses to say whether unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcisions are even legal. Responding to a series of parliamentary questions from Lib Dem peer Paul Scriven, the Government would only acknowledge that there is no legal requirement for circumcisers to be medically trained or to have “proven expertise”. The National Secular Society campaigns to protect all children from non-therapeutic genital cutting. Male circumcision is performed on babies and children for religious reasons in some Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities. ‘Gratuitous infliction of pain’ Earlier this year, ritual circumciser Mohammad Siddiqui was convicted of child cruelty for performing an unanaesthetised circumcision on an infant. In court, the Crown Prosecution Service described this as “gratuitous infliction of pain” and a “deliberate disregard” for the child’s welfare. The judge in the case called for “safeguards and protections” to be put in place as a “matter of urgency, to ensure that babies and young children are protected.” Despite this, religious groups openly perform unanaesthetised circumcisions. An FAQ page on …