On 3rd July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the second day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Division 1:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord German which would require the Home Secretary to consider protection and human rights claims in the event the applicant had not been removed from the UK within six months of their claim.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 204 / Not Content: 168
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 2:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Etherton which would restrict the countries to which LGBT+ people could be removed to, excluding countries where they might be at risk of persecution.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 216 / Not Content: 147
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 3:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Mobarik that would maintain the existing limit (24 hours) on the detention of unaccompanied children.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 230 / Not Content: 152
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 4:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Mobarik that would maintain the existing limit on detention of children (72 hours or one week with ministerial approval).
The amendment was agreed. Content: 230 / Not Content: 151
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 5:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett, a technical amendment relating to the detention of pregnant women.
]The amendment was agreed. Content: 226 / Not Content: 152
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 6:
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Carlile of Berriew, which, contingent on Lord Carlile’s amendment 76, would ensure that “the lawfulness lawfulness of immigration detention remains subject to the principles established in the common law.”
The amendment was agreed. Content: 216 / Not Content: 163
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Bishop of Exeter, and the Bishop of Durham voted Content.
Division 7:
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Leeds took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by the Bishop of Durham which would ensure safeguarding of migrant children in local authority care and limit the power of the secretary of state to transfer them out of that care unless the child’s welfare required a transfer.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 218 / Not Content: 158
The Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Leeds voted Content.
Division 8:
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Randall of Uxbridge which would “exempt people who have been unlawfully exploited in the UK from provisions which would otherwise require their removal during the statutory recovery period and prohibit them from being provided with support during the recovery period or being granted limited leave to remain.”
The amendment was agreed. Content: 214 / Not Content 150
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds voted Content.
Division 9:
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Carlile of Berriew which would remove the presumption in the bill that it is not necessary for someone to be present in the UK to cooperate with an investigation or criminal proceedings.
The amendment was agreed. Content: 202 / Not Content: 154
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds voted Content.
Division 10:
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Etherton that would revise clause 2 of the bill to (1) remove any reference to “the relevant period”, (2) remove any reference to irreversibility of harm, and (3) remove examples of harm that do not constitute or are unlikely to constitute serious and irreversible harm.”
The amendment was agreed. Content: 187 / Not Content: 139
The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Leeds voted Content.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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