On 28th February 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in the first day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Division 1:
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of St Albans took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett:
“Baroness Lister of Burtersett moved amendment 1, after clause 4, to insert the new clause Provision for Chagos Islanders to acquire British Nationality.”
The amendment was agreed. Content: 237 / Not Content: 154
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of St Albans voted Content.
Division 2:
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of St Albans took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness D’Souza (CB), to leave out clause 9 of the bill. Clause 9 would have, in certain circumstances, removed the existing requirement to give notice of a decision to deprive someone of citizenship.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 209 / Not Content: 173
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of St Albans voted Content.
Division 3:
The Bishop of Chelmsford and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Judge (CB), to insert the new clause Compliance with the Refugee Convention into the bill.
Lord Judge: Nothing in this Part authorises policies or decisions which do not comply with the United Kingdom’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.”
Member’s explanatory statement:
This new Clause reflects the Government’s stated intention of compliance with the Refugee Convention and ensures Part 2 provisions are read subject to that international legal obligation. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 218 / Not Content: 140
The Bishop of Chelmsford and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 4:
The Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (CB), to remove clause 11 from the Bill:
Lord Kerr of Kinlochard: My Lords, there are two ways in which to break a treaty, and I think that, looking back on it, I rather preferred the Brandon Lewis way—the straightforward, “Yes, we’re breaking a treaty, in a specific and limited way.” This rather weaselly approach, whereby the Government say, “Oh well, we’re perfectly entitled to interpret the treaty as we choose, and no, as a matter of fact we’re not in breach of it”, seems to me unconvincing and undesirable, and rather bad for our international reputation and for refugees.
I have not heard an answer to the key point, which is that, if I were coming from Ukraine, I could not be a group 1 refugee because I cannot come directly. The clause says that the requirement of being a group 1 refugee is that you have come to the United Kingdom directly from the country or territory where your life or freedom were threatened. So nobody from Ukraine can be entitled to full refugee convention rights in this country, if this becomes the law. I do not think that is right, so I think I have to test the opinion of the House. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 204 / Not Content: 126
The Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 5:
The Bishop of Chelmsford and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Stroud, which would introduce the right to work for asylum seekers who had been resident in the UK for more than six months.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 112 / Not Content: 89
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Chelmsford voted Content.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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