Category: Bills

Legislation before Parliament

Crime and Policing Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on civil accountability

On 11th March 2026, the Bishop of Manchester spoke during a debate on an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill tabled by Lord Davies of Gower which “would prevent the Independent Office for Police Conduct from investigating an officer where that officer has already been investigated and acquitted in court for the same conduct matter,”, opposing the amendment and stressing the need for accountability in civil proceedings:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, can I add my two-penn’orth to this? I declare my interest as the co-chair of the national police ethics committee, but I am speaking more as a serving Bishop. I have to hear disciplinary complaints against clergy. Sometimes those clergy have committed something which is being investigated first by the police. To answer the point from the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, often the police tell us, “We don’t want you interfering until we have finished”. If the result of the criminal proceeding is that the person is convicted, I can then do quite a summary process in terms of applying a penalty or perhaps depriving that member of the clergy from serving in their parish, perhaps banning them from ministry for a time or for life. But all of that is very much on that balance of probabilities, on the civil standard. It is very different from the criminal standard.

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Votes: Crime and Policing Bill

On 11th March 2026, the House of Lords debated the Crime and Policing Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Votes: Victims and Courts Bill

On 10th March 2026, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Courts Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Crime and Policing Bill: Bishop of Norwich supports amendment on protecting war memorials

During a debate on the Crime and Policing Bill on 9th March 2026, the Bishop of Norwich spoke in support of an amendment aimed at broadening the protections provided to war memorials under the provisions of the bill:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I support Amendment 370 in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Blencathra. Across this nation, war memorials, often raised by public subscription of pennies here and tuppences there, stand to hold memories of those who gave their lives—sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, cousins and parents. They are carved in stone, metal, wood or marble. The Whipsnade Tree Cathedral in Bedfordshire is a living memorial planted by Edmond Blyth, a World War I veteran, to commemorate his friends who were lost. They are physical embodiments of sacrifice, courage and collective memory, often within the curtilage of parish churches, each name both precious to someone and precious in the sight of God—ordinary people called to do the most extraordinary things in very challenging times. When they are damaged, it is a hit in the stomach for the whole of that community. It damages how we build our life together.

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Votes: Crime and Policing Bill

On 9th March 2026, the House of Lords debated the Crime and Policing Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Archbishop of York raises potential adverse impact on vulnerable groups

The Archbishop of York asked a question during a debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, querying the impact the bill would have on coercion of vulnerable people, particularly those struggling to access palliative care, on 27th February 2026:

The Lord Archbishop of York: I entirely accept that those who are proposing the Bill do not propose it for the reason of trying to save money. I also entirely accept the desire from everyone in this House for better-funded palliative care. However, I need something to be explained. Taken that palliative care is inadequate and underfunded, and taken that there are huge regional variations, what I do not understand is the noble and learned Lord’s confidence that this will not lead to coercion of vulnerable people in places where palliative care is not available and cannot be afforded, which will lead to unintended consequences. I entirely accept that he does not want those consequences either, but I ask him to give me some confidence, if he can, that this will not follow.

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Votes: Tobacco and Vapes Bill

On 24th February 2026, the House of Lords debated the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Bishop of Newcastle speaks to amendment on protection for those with learning disabilities

The Bishop of Newcastle spoke in support of an amendment aimed at providing additional protection for those with learning disabilities during a committee debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 6th February 2026:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 108, to which the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln has added his name. He regrets that he cannot be in his place today, as he is interested in this amendment as lead bishop for the L’Arche community in the UK. With the Church of England, L’Arche strives to provide a positive and inclusive residential community in which adults with and without learning disabilities can live and grow together.

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Votes: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

On 3rd February 2026, the House of Lords debated the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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Crime and Policing Bill: Bishop of Lincoln speaks to amendments on decriminalisation of abortion

On 2nd February 2026, the Bishop of Lincoln spoke in a debate on amendments relating to the decriminalisation of abortion in the Crime and Policing Bill, highlighting the importance of supporting women and the need for a change in the way police investigations of terminations of pregnancies are carried out, while reiterating opposition to full decriminalisation on the grounds of the sanctity of life:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I am one of those old men. I am also a single man, so I have no children of my own, but I am regularly in contact with very young families through baptism. Only last Thursday, I was in hospital in an acute cardiac unit for babies, anointing a two week-old baby who had just had open-heart surgery. So I know quite a lot about babies through a very long ministry. I also offer my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Winston, for a television series that he oversaw about seeing a pregnancy from conception to delivery some years ago. That series reinforced my conviction about the sanctity of life.

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