On 2nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in its second 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, the Bishop of Guildford, and the Bishop of St Albans took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Rosser to leave out clause 15 of the bill:
Lord Rosser (Lab): My Lords, Clause 15 puts into the Bill an existing immigration law on inadmissibility that makes any asylum claim inadmissible in a number of circumstances, including if the claimant has passed through, or has a connection to, a safe third country. The result of a finding of inadmissibility is that, unless the Secretary of State decides that there are exceptional circumstances, the claimant will be denied access to the UK’s asylum system for a “reasonable period”, currently defined as six months in Home Office policy, while the UK seeks to transfer them to “any other safe country”. With the huge backlog and delay currently in the system, it is impossible to understand how adding another six months to the asylum process will help an already dysfunctional system. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 221 / Not Content: 172
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Guildford and the Bishop of St Albans voted Content.
Division 2:
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Stroud, intended to limit the potential offshoring of asylum seekers.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 208 / Not Content: 155.
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds voted Content, and the Bishop of Durham spoke in support of the amendment.
Division 3:
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds, and the Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Dubs:
Lord Dubs (Lab): This new Clause would require the Government to make provision within the Immigration Rules for unaccompanied children, and certain other people in Europe, to be admitted to the UK for the purposes of seeking asylum where they have a close family member in the UK. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 178 / Not Content: 130
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds and the Bishop of London voted Content.
Division 4:
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds, and the Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Stroud:
Baroness Stroud (Con): 49: After Clause 37, insert the following new Clause—
“Refugee resettlement schemes
(1) The Secretary of State must arrange for the resettlement in the United Kingdom of at least 10,000 refugees each year.(2) The target under this section includes the numbers of people resettled under—(a) dedicated schemes for the evacuation of people from a geographical locality, such as a specific third State,(b) a general UK resettlement scheme,(c) the mandate resettlement scheme or equivalent replacements, and(d) other routes as appropriate. (3) The Secretary of State must be guided by the capacity of local authorities and community sponsorship groups in delivering the target under subsection (1).”Member’s explanatory statement
This reflects the Prime Minister’s commitment to make the dedicated Afghan resettlement scheme of 5,000 refugees a year additional to the longer standing Government commitment to resettle 5,000 vulnerable refugees per year from elsewhere in the world. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 169 / Not Content 122.
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds, and the Bishop of London voted Content.
Division 5:
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds, and the Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB): 51: After Clause 37, insert the following new Clause—
“Conditions for grant of asylum: cases of genocide
(1) A person seeking asylum in the United Kingdom who belongs to a national, ethnical, racial or religious group which meets the criteria, in the place from which that person originates, set out in Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide made in Paris on 9 December 1948, must be presumed to meet the conditions for asylum in the United Kingdom following an application to the Court from a non-governmental organisation (registered as a charity in the United Kingdom) representing such a person or group of persons belonging to a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.(2) The adjudication of whether the group to which the person seeking asylum belongs meets the description specified in subsection (1) must be determined by a judge of the High Court of England and Wales after consideration of the available facts.(3) Applicants for asylum in the United Kingdom from groups designated under this section may submit their applications and have them assessed at British missions overseas.(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations place a cap on the number of people granted asylum under subsection (1) in any given calendar year.” Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 172 / Not Content: 120
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Leeds, and the Bishop of London voted content.
Division 6:
The Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Coaker:
Lord Coaker (Lab): Clause 39, page 40, leave out lines 5 to 9
Member’s explanatory statement
This would prevent ‘arrival’ in the UK being an offence, rather than ‘entry’ into the UK. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 101 / Not Content: 96
The Bishop of London voted content.
Division 7:
The Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Coaker:
Lord Coaker: 59: Clause 40, page 41, line 40, leave out subsection (3)
Member’s explanatory statement:
This would give effect to the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to maintain the current position that the offence of helping an asylum seeker to enter the United Kingdom can only be committed if it is carried out “for gain”. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 86 / Not Content: 84
The Bishop of London voted Content.
Division 8:
The Bishop of London took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Coaker, which added a stipulation that “(1A) The powers set out in this Part of this Schedule must not be used in a manner or in circumstances that could endanger life at sea.”
Lord Coaker: This would give effect to the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to ensure the maritime enforcement powers cannot be used in a manner that would endanger lives at sea. Hansard
The amendment was agreed. Content: 83 / Not Content: 76.
The Bishop of London voted Content.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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