parliamentaryunit

Financial Services and Markets Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on environmental protections

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of a group of amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill focused on environmental protection on 9th September 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, financial stability is crucial for sustainable growth. It is what allows people and families to plan for the future, to reliably hold savings, pensions and mortgages, and of course it supports businesses to create the jobs on which we depend. In the same way, financial growth and environmental stewardship are interdependent. Growth provides us with resources that allow us to invest in new sustainable fuels, clean infrastructure and new ways to tackle the climate crisis.

Archbishop of York asks about combatting illegal Israeli settlements

The Archbishop of York asked a question on further measures necessary to respond to the establishment of illegal settlements by Israel, following a government statement on Israel and Palestine on 9th September 2026:

The Lord Archbishop of York: My Lords, like others in this House, I came face to face with settler militia and the impact on settlements while visiting the south Hebron hills last year. Therefore, with many on these Benches, I welcome this Statement. We have called for such principled action over many years. We believe that these measures are just, necessary and, frankly, overdue, although we also want to emphasise that, in acting against specific policies of the Israeli Government, we of course remain unreservedly opposed to the evils of antisemitism, here in the UK and everywhere. I have a specific question. Does the Minister accept, given the E1 tenders—E1 has already been mentioned, but I think tenders are coming up on 19 October and are about to be opened—that further measures are needed to deter Israeli banks from guaranteeing such bids?

Bishop of Manchester asks about protection for small funeral provider

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on protection for smaller funeral providers during the discussion on the establishment of a regulatory regime for funeral directors on 9th September 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I want to pick up a point made from the Opposition Front Bench a few moments ago about family funeral directors. Over the last 20 years or so, we have seen many of those, in effect, bought up by large conglomerates. It is important that any regulation is created in a way that makes it commensurate for those small providers and does not create a further incentive for the large, sometimes multinational, bodies that do not have that degree of personal understanding of a particular local community.

Archbishop of York asks about plans for regulatory regime for funeral directors

The Archbishop of York tabled a question on establishing a regulatory regime for funeral directors:

The Lord Archbishop of York: To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to establish a regulatory regime for funeral directors.

Baroness Merron (Lab, DHSC): My Lords, the Government laid a Written Ministerial Statement on 1 September confirming that detailed proposals for formal regulation of the funeral sector are being developed. The Department of Health and Social Care is leading this work with the Ministry of Justice and other departments, working closely with bereaved families, funeral providers, faith groups, local authorities and others.

Armed Forces Bill: Bishop of Norwich tables amendment on impersonating police officers

On 8th September 2026, the Bishop of Norwich tabled an amendment to the Armed Forces Bill seeking to amend section 90 of the Police Act 1996 to make impersonating a service police officer a specific offence and afford service police the same protections against impersonation given to their civilian counterparts:

59: After Clause 50, insert the following new Clause—

“Impersonation of service police(1) Section 90 of the Police Act 1996 (impersonation, etc.) is amended as follows.(2) In subsection (1), after “force” insert “including service police”.(3) In subsection (2), after “force” insert “including service police”.(4) In subsection (3), after “force” insert “including service police”.(5) In subsection (4), at end insert—“(c) “service police” has the same meaning as in section 375 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (definitions relating to the service police and other police forces).””Member’s explanatory statement

The amendment seeks to amend section 90 of the Police Act 1996 to make impersonating a service police officer a specific offence and afford service police the same protections against impersonation given to their civilian counterparts.

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, in moving Amendment 59, I will also speak to Amendment 60 in my name; I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham, and the noble Earl, Lord Minto, for their support. I declare an interest as the father of a soldier.

Bishop of Gloucester asks about reducing rates of offending

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on reducing rates of offending and reoffending during a discussion on criminal justice reform on 8th September 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for this Statement, particularly the highlight on IPP prisoners. However, the approach still feels piecemeal, driven too much by ill-informed public narrative and wrongly focusing the problem on prison capacity. Does the Minister agree that the focus needs to be on reducing offending and reoffending, with the solutions being evidence-led to benefit victims, offenders, families and communities together? Will he say what progress has been made in response to recommendation 5.1 of the Independent Sentencing Review, namely, that we should:

“Launch a public awareness campaign on sentencing”,

because in recent weeks we have seen the consequences of this huge void?

Votes: Financial Services and Markets Bill

On 7th September 2026, the House of Lords debated the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part.

Financial Services and Markets Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on consumer protection and affordability

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill focused on consumer protection and affordable credit on 7th September 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I support Amendment 2 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bowles of Berkhamsted, to which I have added my name. As we have already heard, this amendment would ensure that, when provisions of the Consumer Credit Act are repealed or replaced by FCA rules, the overall level of consumer protection would not be diminished. The Consumer Credit Act has long provided established routes of redress to consumers; it has done so for decades. It provides a core of fundamental protections enshrined in primary legislation and developed through parliamentary scrutiny, and probably is fairly well known.

Bishop of Chester raises factors of poverty and public awareness in debate on modern slavery

The Bishop of Chester spoke in a debate on a report on modern slavery on 4th September 2026, highlighting the importance of public awareness and the need to also consider the factor of poverty:

The Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, I join others in welcoming the Minister to his seat. I hope that he will not mind my sharing that, before his introduction yesterday, we were chuckling that wandering about this place for the first time felt a bit like wandering around Hogwarts. My hope, if I may say so, is that he will fight as passionately for justice as the heroes of those stories.

I am also not alone in welcoming this report wholeheartedly. I express my gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and his colleagues for the extraordinarily good and profound work that has been done here. I am proud to be part of a nation that, 10 years ago, introduced—for the first time anywhere in the world, I believe—ground-breaking legislation. However, we have not gone far enough. This matters, morally, legally, economically and in terms of human rights. I suspect—to think of my day job—that I am preaching to choir in terms of the moral case for this. We have only to glimpse the basics of forced labour to see that this is not good enough. Although that is part of the problem: we do not glimpse it, and we do not have the public outrage that we need.

Bishop of Coventry speaks in debate on preparing for an aging society

The Bishop of Coventry spoke in a debate on an aging society, emphasising the importance of valuing the elderly, on 4th September 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important issue, and I thank the Economic Affairs Committee for its thorough and timely report. As we consider the prospect of a society where the people of older age vastly outnumber younger people, it is vital that we avoid framing our discussion primarily around the burden of the old to the young. We must continue to emphasise that the value of a person cannot be reduced to their fiscal contribution to the state, although I very much understand the pressures. As the report rightly notes, increased life expectancy is a welcome gift and one of the considerable achievements of modern society. I note that, when I began ordained ministry in 1997, I regularly conducted funerals for people in their 60s and 70s; decades on, they were much more frequently for people in their 80s and 90s.

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