This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke in debates on the value of Higher Education, and on referendums. They asked questions about attacks on Christians in Nigeria, persecuted Christian communities in the Middle East, the vocation to service, broadband speeds, and commuter rail services. The Bishop of St Albans’s Registration of Marriage Bill passed its Report Stage in the House of Lords. Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 16th-20th July 2018”
Category: Blog
Opinion and comment pieces on parliamentary / political issues
Week in Westminster, 9th-13th July 2018
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke in debates on faith-based organisations delivering overseas aid and development, personal savings, the nerve agent poisoning in Amesbury, and paid tribute to the late Lord Carrington. They asked questions about when the stakes on betting machines would be reduced, embryo freezing, and the National Planning Policy Framework . In the House of Commons the Second Church Estates Commissioner answered questions from MPs on ordination numbers, church schools, modern slavery, metal theft, inter-faith relations and growth of the church in London.
Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 9th-13th July 2018”
Week in Westminster, 2nd-6th July 2018
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke in debates on the NHS, social care funding, the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, lifelong learning and skills, and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act. They asked questions about EU migration, sentencing of female offenders, and NHS data records. Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 2nd-6th July 2018”
Week in Westminster, 25th-29th June 2018
This week in the House of Lords the Bishop of London made her first speech during a debate on disability, and the Bishop of St Albans’s Marriage Registration Bill passed its next parliamentary stage. Bishops also spoke about conflict in Nigeria, and asked questions about private finance for prisons, terrorism, and the apprenticeship levy.
Week in Westminster, 18th-22nd June 2018
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke about the report of the Gosport Independent Panel and asked questions about mental health services in rural areas, immigration removals, the two-child limit for benefits, personal independence payments, and attacks on Christians in Myanmar. Three bishops voted on an amendment to the Government’s EU (Withdrawal) Bill. Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 18th-22nd June 2018”
Times: Bishop of St Albans voices concern about delay in reduction of betting machine stakes
On 16th June 2018 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, was a signatory to a letter to The Times newspaper registering concern about reports of a delay to the implementation of a reduction in stakes to £2 for fixed-odds betting terminals:
Sir, Your report (June 15) that bookmakers have struck a backroom deal with the Treasury to delay for two years the implementation of the stake reduction on highly addictive fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 a spin to £2 is deeply disturbing. Continue reading “Times: Bishop of St Albans voices concern about delay in reduction of betting machine stakes”
Week in Westminster, 11th-15th June 2018
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke and voted on UK citizenship fees, an amendment to the Government’s Civil Liability Bill and the membership of a Lords committee. They asked questions about crimes against humanity in Myanmar, and funding for women’s centres. In the House of Commons the Second Church Estates Commissioner answered a question on Seaham Parish Church. Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 11th-15th June 2018”
