This week in Parliament the Bishop of Blackburn was introduced to the House of Lords, and the Second Church Estates Commissioner Andrew Selous answered questions from MPs on LGBT+ equality, civil partnerships, church buildings, church schools and universities, HS2, Christians in Nigeria, and youth workers. Andrew also spoke about persecuted Christians overseas in a House of Commons debate.
The Bishop of Southwark praised the community response to the terror attack in Streatham, and also asked Government about the aim and intent of newly proposed counter-terrorism laws. He also asked questions about freedom of religion and belief policy in international development, and access to cash machines in the poorest areas.
The Bishop of Oxford spoke in a debate on climate change, the Bishop of Carlisle highlighted the need for more investment in adult social care, and the Bishops of Carlisle and Portsmouth spoke in the Second Reading debate of the Government’s Divorce Bill, expressing concerns about the provisions.
The Bishop of St Albans asked a question about food security and scarcity in areas of East Africa affected by locusts, and also on fly-tipping. The Bishop of Durham asked a question about universal credit, and the Bishop of Leeds received answers to written questions to Government about security of Christians and freedom of religion and belief.
Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 3rd-7th February 2020”
On 13th February 2020 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, answered written questions from Jim Shannon MP, on carbon emissions, religious freedom, strategic development funding, church planting, green investments, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, the Primates’ Meeting, new technologies, marriage and family life.
The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I declare an interest as a board member of the CDEI and a member of the Ada Lovelace Institute’s new Rethinking Data project. I am also a graduate of the AI Select Committee. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, for this important debate.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in this important area Britain is proud to be a leader in many ways—in technology, computing and so on—and many of these projects, which are transforming the lives of some people with certain kinds of disabilities, have been run across Europe, so there are worries that some of these projects may not continue. Can the Minister assure the House that priority will be given to helping this world-leading development continue? It is making an impact on people with disabilities not only in our own country but right across the world as the technology is rolled out.
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, perhaps we might return to the north-east. The noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and I, along with many others, have argued previously that this infrastructure should have begun in the north and the south at the same time. In the review, can we please ensure that we are working not just south to north but north to south? This would help speed up the process. Can the Minister also answer a question on the production of the trains and 
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, there are some wonderful examples of how old mills being rejuvenated and given new life, such as Salts Mill in Saltaire and Manningham Mills, although there is a vast amount of empty space there. If they were icons of the old northern powerhouse, they are now becoming icons of dereliction. Does the Minister agree that if nothing is going to happen, then it would be better to knock them down? I do not favour that, but there needs to be a strategy that allows these wonderful buildings to be brought back into life, to be given a sort of resurrection.
The Lord Bishop of Winchester: 
The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, following on from the previous question*, will the Minister consider whether or not it is appropriate for this country to seek to deal with the offences and aftermath of those brought up here as children, rather than expel them to countries of which they know little, save in the most exceptional circumstances?
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con): It is a pleasure, albeit a sad necessity for many of us, to speak on a debate on this issue yet again in this House. The analysis I have seen from Open Doors and others shows that in the past three years alone more than 10,000 Christians have been killed for their faith—that is a staggering number. We are right to hold this debate today, because, as others have mentioned, the evidence shows that Christians are the target of about 80% of all the acts of religious discrimination or persecution around the world.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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