Author: parliamentaryunit

Bishop of Portsmouth asks Government if new frigates will be built in Portsmouth

Portsmouth 150318On 6th March 2019 Lord West of Spithead asked the Government a question about contracts to build  five Type 31e frigates. The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Christopher Foster, asked a follow up question: 

Lord Bishop of Portsmouth:  My Lords, will the Minister confirm that these frigates will be based in Portsmouth, and when a decision will be announced to this House? As the home of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth is the obvious home for these frigates, not least because the general purpose Type 23 frigates are currently based there. This decision would bring much support and give reassurance to the city, community and the diocese I serve. Continue reading “Bishop of Portsmouth asks Government if new frigates will be built in Portsmouth”

Bishop of St Albans highlights Church investor pressure on companies without female directors

On 5th March 2019 Baroness Nye asked the Government “what steps they are taking to address the gender pay gap.” The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, asked a follow up question:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, this week the Church Investors Group, which has assets of £21 billion, will vote against the chairs of boards of big firms that have poor policies on tax and climate change. From now on, the 67-member group will put pressure on companies that have no women directors. Does the Minister agree with that approach? Does she also agree that it is a welcome step that companies can no longer get away with such dire records of female representation in management positions?

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans highlights Church investor pressure on companies without female directors”

Bishop of Salisbury – Climate emergency requires more consistent response from Government

On 4th March 2019 the House of Lords debated the Feed-in Tariffs (Closure, etc.) Order 2018, and a ‘Motion to Regret’ criticising the Order from Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb. The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, spoke in support of Baroness Jones’s Motion, and a transcript is below:

Motion to Regret: That this House regrets, in the light of the worsening climate emergency, that the Feed-in Tariffs (Closure, etc.) Order 2018 will end the export tariff for small-scale renewable energy without any replacement scheme in place; will result in new installations having to export their electricity to the National Grid for free; and will harm jobs and investment in the renewable energy industry (SI 2018/1380).

The Lord Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I support the noble Baroness’s Motion of regret. It is almost inevitable that a debate such as this will range more widely than the specific issues that the noble Baroness is focused on. I hope your Lordships will forgive me for beginning in Salisbury, my cathedral city, on a day when there has been a considerable amount of reflection about events there a year ago and their significance for the city and internationally.

We were grateful for the Prime Minister’s visit earlier today. I particularly thank the council, Wiltshire Police and the fire and ambulance services, as well as the district hospital, Porton Down and the military, for their commitment through the year. Wiltshire County Council has led a programme of recovery. Although business is still badly affected, we are making progress. We are grateful for the involvement of the noble Lord, Lord Henley.

From those ghastly events that began to unfold a year ago, we have learned not just about the need to recover but about using a crisis as an opportunity to rethink what sort of city Salisbury can be. The same is true of the environmental crisis we face.

Continue reading “Bishop of Salisbury – Climate emergency requires more consistent response from Government”

Week in Westminster 25th February – 1st March 2019

This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke on Brexit, new draft proposals for relationships education, and on an amendment about marriage to a Private Member’s Bill. Bishops also asked questions about online safety, and childcare costs. Continue reading “Week in Westminster 25th February – 1st March 2019”

Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Bill – Bishop of Oxford responds to amendment on same-sex marriage

On 1st March 2019 the House of Lords considered the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Bill at its Report Stage. Lord Faulkner of Worcester tabled an amendment to the Bill similar to that which he had tabled in Committee on the process by which the Church of England and Church in Wales might opt-in to conduct same-sex marriages. The Bishop of Oxford responded to the amendment, explaining that it was not necessary as there were already legal mechanisms in place for both Churches to opt-in should they choose to. The Minister also emphasised these points in her response and the amendment was not put to a vote. The Bishop’s speech is below, and the whole debate on the amendment is reproduced underneath.

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, those were extremely moving speeches. I thank the noble Lords, Lord Faulkner, Lord Collins and Lord Cashman, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for the contributions they have made in the Chamber today and the moving way in which they have spoken. I thank them for sharing their personal experiences so movingly, and for the important and necessary articulation of the views they have heard within the broader Church of England in favour of movement and inclusion. I deeply regret the language used in writing to the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and others; it has no place in the contemporary Church.

The Church is committed to listening carefully to the wisdom of the nation, to the wisdom in our continued debate in this Chamber and to the voices of LGBTI people at all levels in the life of the church. We are committed in our public statements to the inclusion and welcome of all.

Continue reading “Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Bill – Bishop of Oxford responds to amendment on same-sex marriage”

Bishop of Oxford warns against “four temptations” in Brexit debate

On 27th February 2019 the House of Lords debated the Government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration. The Bishop of Oxford, Rt Revd Stephen Croft, spoke in the debate.  His full speech is below: 

Oxford 5718b

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I always rise to speak in this Chamber with some fear and trepidation but never more so than today: not only because of the expertise, passion and conviction in this Chamber but also the jeopardy in which we find ourselves as a nation and a Parliament. My journey through the Brexit process is that for seven years until the referendum year, I was the bishop in Sheffield and south Yorkshire, where some of the communities voted by almost 70% to leave the European Union. I moved shortly afterwards to the diocese of Oxford, where the three counties, by and large, are significantly in favour of remain.

Continue reading “Bishop of Oxford warns against “four temptations” in Brexit debate”

Bishop of Chelmsford asks Government about regulating social media platforms

Chelmsford310119cOn 26th February 2019 Baroness Massey asked the Government a question about online safety. The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell asked a follow up question:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, instead of simply—and importantly—mitigating the harms done on the internet, might we consider a step change about designing the whole thing differently? Does the Minister agree that, instead of thinking about Facebook, Twitter and the like as platforms, if we thought about them as public spaces, required to have a duty of care like any other public space and be regulated accordingly, we would find ourselves in a different place? Is this something the Government are considering?

Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks Government about regulating social media platforms”

Bishop of Oxford responds to draft relationships education proposals and asks about online safety

On 25th February 2019 the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Steven Croft, responded to a Ministerial statement on Government proposals for draft regulations and guidance for relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education.  The Bishop welcomed aspects of the draft guidelines and asked about the provisions to teach about online safety:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I thank the Minister for the repetition of the Statement and for the guidelines. The Church of England’s chief education officer has in particular welcomed the stronger impetus on teaching faith perspectives relevant to people of all faiths and none, irrespective of the kind of school that they attend, which is key to combating religious prejudice. I underline the concerns raised by noble Lords about resourcing.

Continue reading “Bishop of Oxford responds to draft relationships education proposals and asks about online safety”

Bishop of Durham asks Government about universal credit and child poverty

19.01.07 durhamOn the 25th February 2019 the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, received a written answer to a question about Universal Credit, the two-child limit and the cost of childcare.

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the report by the Social Metrics Commission ‘A new measure for poverty for the UK’, published in September 2018, what steps they are taking to ensure working parents with more than two children and who are claiming Universal Credit are not being pushed further into poverty due to the cost of childcare. [HL13861] Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks Government about universal credit and child poverty”

Week in Westminster 18th-22nd February 2019

This week in the House of Lords bishops asked questions about the two-child limit and racist incidents in schools. In the House of Commons questions were asked of the Church Commissioners on rural parish clergy, metal theft, bell ringing and gravestones. Written answers were provided on Christian persecution overseas, homelessness, and married couples’ tax allowances. Continue reading “Week in Westminster 18th-22nd February 2019”