Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day is a short segment broadcast at about 7:50am on most weekdays as part of BBC Radio 4's morning news programme, Today. It features a monologue by a religious presenter which often combines a news item with religious or spiritual reflections. While the messages are usually fairly mild - although considered somewhat twee and, the slot has been subject to considerable controversy and criticism.

Secular campaigners from the National Secular Society and the Brtish Humanist Association have campaigned for the slot to either be abolished or to contain a mixture of religious and non-religious perspectives. Many listeners have lobbied the BBC to allow for such change, and the atheist biologist Richard Dawkins was invited by Today to provide a one-off non-religious edition to give listeners some idea what it would be like. Such change has not been forthcoming though.

During the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher's government became irritated with the presence of a number of left-wing clergyman on the segment attacking their policies.