On 7th December 2017 the Bishop of Coventry, Rt Revd Christopher Cocksworth, received written answers to four questions on human rights and freedom of religion or belief in China:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry:
(i) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the revisions to the regulations on religious affairs in China, and of their potential impact on freedom of religion or belief in that country.
(ii) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of China about the disappearance and current situation of Chinese lawyer Gao Zhiseng, who went missing in August.
(iii) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of China concerning restrictions on freedom of religion or belief for Tibetan Buddhists in China, including the detention of religious leaders and the demolition of places of worship.
(iv) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they hold about the demolition of religious sites and buildings in China, including Tibetan Buddhist institutions and Christian churches in the past two years. Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about China – human rights and freedom of religion or belief”
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, from these Benches I very much welcome the Statement and the sentiments in it, particularly its focus on the direct victims. However, there are also indirect victims of such attacks—those who are made to feel more afraid simply to go about their daily lives. That includes a lot of people, not least many in our Muslim communities. Does the noble Earl agree that, as a result of these attacks, it is very important to do all we can to increase the feeling of safety among those in Muslim communities, seeing them not just as people who must be targeted for information but as people who are part of our wider community and whom we must cherish and care for, helping them to feel safe and welcome? This includes not just community policing but many other areas of work with them, and it includes a very strong focus on dealing with right-wing extremism, which would threaten those communities. 
The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, housing is a key factor in evaluating poverty. In the county of Hampshire alone, over 20,000 people are on council-house waiting lists, with over 4,000 of them in the New Forest. Given that the Government have recently announced significant new funding for new housebuilding and new affordable homes, can the Minister give us a clear indication of the expected spending on homes for social rent in rural areas? 
The Lord Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I very much welcome the work of the commission and of the outgoing commissioners. We live in a very divided and polarised time. After a period of low economic growth and austerity, and with Brexit, it feels as if the divisions in society are very great. This piece of work has the potential to be cross-party, and indeed it has been. 
The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth: My Lords, one of the duties in which I take particular pleasure is chairing the governors at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, just outside Oxford, a theological college at which men and women are prepared for ministry. It is known by those associated with it more colloquially as a vicar factory. Notices around the college remind the residents that, after night prayer or Compline, they are expected to abide by what is known as the great silence. It is not, I suspect, adhered to with the same severity as in years past. Indeed, one has a sense that the silence masks all kinds of feverish activity, all of it associated with theology, of course.
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke in debates on lifelong learning and improving mental health services for people from black and ethnic minority communities, and asked questions about Donald Trump’s sharing of material about Islam, domestic violence, mental health, waste reduction and interpretation services. In the House of Commons the Second Church Estates Commissioner answered a question on religious freedom. 
On November 30th 2017 the House of Lords heard repeated a Government statement about online hate speech, following the sharing by the United States President Donald Trump of material about Muslims produced by the far-right organisation ‘Britain First’. The Bishop of Worcester, Rt Revd John Inge, asked a follow up question:
On 30th November 2017 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer to a question on the uprating on welfare benefits with inflation:
On 29th November 2017 Baroness Coussins asked Her Majesty’s Government “whether they have revised their target for annual budget savings on the cost of providing interpretation and translation services in criminal proceedings, following the allocation of the latest contract for those services to thebigword; and if so, what is their new target.” The Bishop of Leeds, Rt Revd Nick Baines, asked a follow up question:
The Church of England in Parliament 
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