Category: Speeches

Speeches delivered in debates in the Lords and Commons

Kings Speech Debate: Bishop of St Albans speaks on rural and environmental concerns

On 18th July 2024, the Bishop of St Albans gave a speech on issues affecting rural communities during the debate on the Kings Speech, also welcoming the new government’s plans to fight pollution in waterways:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition and add my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, on her new role.

As a long-term advocate for rural areas and the people who live and work in them, I know that our farmers and rural communities are uniquely placed to deliver the Government’s missions of clean energy, increased building and the need to protect and restore our environment. Rural communities and rural businesses play an absolutely crucial role in the economic and social fabric of our country.

I welcome His Majesty’s Government’s plans to introduce measures to tackle pollution in our rivers, lakes and waterways. In my diocese of St Albans, covering Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, we are home to several of this country’s beautiful chalk streams, which, despite being extraordinarily rare and precious habitats, have been utterly devastated by both extraction and pollution. For example, the River Ver in Hertfordshire has been found to have six times higher levels of E. coli than is acceptable in bathing water. Between March and June this year, sewage was discharged directly into the River Ver for more than 2,400 hours.

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Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill: Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham tables amendments on charity freeholds and deferment rates

On 24th May 2024, during the wash-up debate on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham tabled an amendment to the bill which “would give a charity freeholder the right to compensation for the loss of marriage or hope value,” and a further amendment relating to the setting of deferment rates:

The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: 20: Schedule 4, page 164, line 15, at end insert—

“(3A) But in a case where the freeholder is a charity and the freehold interest was vested in that charity immediately before the passing of this Act, the freeholder is entitled to compensation for loss of marriage or hope value, with the amount of compensation being equal to the amount the freeholder would have received by way of marriage or hope value if assumption 2 had not been made.”Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment would give a charity freeholder the right to compensation for the loss of marriage or hope value.

My Lords, I will speak to both amendments in my name. I declare my interest as a beneficiary of the funds of the Church Commissioners, being in receipt of a stipend. I am also a leaseholder of a flat in Bristol.

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Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham supports provision of aftercare for those under Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences

On 21st May 2024, during a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham spoke in support of amendments aimed at reforming Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences, particularly with regard to providing extended aftercare for prisoners affected by these sentences:

The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow noble Lords—and noble and learned Lords—and to benefit from their considerable wisdom on the matter at hand. I do not wish to repeat all that has already been said, but my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester has added her name to several amendments in this group. She is sadly unable to be here today, but I know that, like many other noble Lords, she is dedicated to seeing the reform of the criminal justice system, particularly in respect of our prisons, for which she is the lead bishop for the Church of England.

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Media Bill: Bishop of Leeds emphasises importance of broadcasting in introducing new and challenging ideas to the public

The Bishop of Leeds spoke in a debate on amendments to the Media Bill on 20th May 2024, during a discussion on sports broadcasting, raising the importance of audiences encountering content that challenges preconceptions and introduces new ideas:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, surely at a time when we want children to get away from the telly and actually do sports, it is right that they be confronted by sports that they may know nothing about. Was it not curling, whatever that is, which became very popular and captured the imagination? Most of us could not believe that there was a sport where you push something along in that way.

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Media Bill: Bishop of Newcastle supports amendments on regional diversity in broadcasting production

On 20th May 2024, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Media Bill. The Bishop of Newcastle spoke in support of two amendments to the bill tabled by Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie aimed at ensuring regional diversity in broadcasting, emphasising the importance of intentionality in supporting the arts and creative industries:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 16 and 17, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie, to which I am pleased to have added my name in support.

Our country is one of diversity. The four nations that make up the UK include many regions, each with its own culture, sense of humour, accent, concerns and interests. As public service broadcasters are owned by the whole of the UK public, it is important that they truly reflect the public they serve in all their regional diversity.

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Renters Reform Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks in support of comprehensive housing strategy reform

The Bishop of Chelmsford gave a speech at the second reading of the Renters Reform Bill on 15th May 2024, calling for comprehensive reforms on housing as part of a long term strategy encompassing all tenures, and lamenting the removal of parts of the bill abolishing section 21 evictions:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Best, from whose wisdom and experience I have personally gained such a lot. I am grateful for his contribution today. I declare my interest as the Church of England’s lead bishop for housing. Also, as I am in clergy-tied housing myself, my retirement house is currently let to a long-term tenant.

My starting place is that good homes are the building blocks of strong communities. Bad homes threaten mental and physical well-being, hinder personal and economic development, and compromise safety. Everyone needs a good home so that we have a good society where people can flourish. As others have said, there is much to welcome in the Bill. Private renting is the most insecure and expensive tenure, and it requires significant reform. I am pleased that the decent homes standard will be applied to the private rented sector for the first time. I am also pleased that the Government have tabled amendments to prohibit landlords and letting agencies from discriminating against families with children and people in receipt of benefits. I will seek more details on how this will work in practice.

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Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill: Bishop of Manchester welcomes legislation and raises issue of maintaining the rule of law

The Bishop of Manchester spoke at the second reading of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill on 13th May 2024, supporting the intent of the bill and commenting on the importance of safeguarding the rule of law whilst ensuring the swift exoneration of the victims of the Horizon scandal:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I admit to being a little nervous as a non-lawyer entering a debate that has already heard from so many distinguished minds. Some may think that they have heard enough from the lawyers and do not need to hear from me.

I am grateful to the Minister for introducing the Bill. I concur with other noble Lords in hoping that it will be swiftly passed into law. The many victims of this long-running scandal and injustice must now benefit without further undue delay. As the noble Lord said in opening this debate, Parliament is not the usual route by which we overturn wrongful convictions. I echo others today, as well as what I have said in debates on other matters, in believing that we need to tread very carefully when acting in ways that move us on to territory more normally occupied by the courts and the judiciary. That is particularly important in Britain, because we give such huge weight to precedent. The Minister has, I am pleased to note, assured us that this Bill should not be considered a setting of precedent, and others have concurred. However, I think that that aspect of what we are doing merits, albeit briefly, deeper consideration. What one Government do today, no matter how warily, may be drawn on by future Governments in ways that stretch the original intentions well beyond breaking point. Our best defence against that, perhaps our only defence, is to set down very clear principles, not merely general assertions, at the outset.

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Bishop of St Albans speaks in debate on problems faced by inadmissible asylum seekers

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on the issues faced by those deemed inadmissible to the UK asylum system on 9th May 2024, raising the issue of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and the threat of exploitation under the current system:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord German, for obtaining this debate on a very important area that, although it has, sadly, become very party political, is somewhere that we need to get real and use everyone’s creative thinking to try to find solutions. This is affecting virtually every country, to a greater or lesser degree, in Europe; it is not going to go away; we are dealing with the lives of vulnerable people; and I hope we can try to think together about the way forward. I have a certain reticence to speak as this is an area where some of the legislation is extremely complex, and I hope I will bring some light rather than more confusion to it.

The passing of the Illegal Migration Act, alongside the Rwanda plan, appears to have created much more confusion and overlapping statuses for asylum seekers. We now have asylum seekers whose applications were made before 28 June 2022 and the Nationality and Borders Act, those whose applications were made from 28 June 2022 to 6 March 2023, the group between 7 March to 19 July, and then those who applied after 20 July 2023. As I understand it, all are affected by slightly different legislation.

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Media Bill: Bishop of Leeds supports amendments on standards and terms of reference for public service broadcasters

On 8th May 2024, the House of Lords debated the Media Bill in committee. The Bishop of Leeds spoke in support of a group of amendments on standards requirements for public service broadcasters, stressing the need for detailed terms of reference in public service broadcasting:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I support the first four amendments in this group—Amendments 1 to 3 and 7—and will not repeat what has been said so far in the excellent two speeches. However, I support them for a different reason: I think that they lay the ground for later amendments, particularly Amendments 9, 13 and 32. I will make a serious point about those amendments now, partly because I may have to be on a train when the Committee gets to them.

If we take seriously the Reithian principles to inform, educate and entertain, it means doing what the inscription from George Orwell outside the BBC spells out: that people are enabled to be confronted by, or to hear and see things, that

“they do not want to hear”.

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Bishop of Lincoln raises issues of job retention and carbon emissions during debate on food imports and exports

The Bishop of Lincoln spoke in a debate on import and export of food and agricultural products from the EU on 2nd May 2024, raising examples from his diocese and the issue of carbon prodigality in imports:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I am grateful for this time to say two things about Lincolnshire. One is that 24% of jobs there depend on the food chain, so are deeply impacted by our import and export arrangements. One of the things that has been brought to my attention is that the Grimsby Fish Dock receives its fish from Iceland over the weekend, for auction and distribution on Monday and Tuesday. Will there be enough environmental health officers on duty over the weekend to ensure that these auctions and distribution can take place under these new rules?

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