Speeches – Page 31 – The Church of England in Parliament

Data Protection & Digital Information Bill: Bishop of St Albans raises concerns on police powers to access data

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate at the second reading of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill on 19th December 2023, raising concerns about the expansion of police access to and use of personal data:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, and look forward to his maiden speech. We on these Benches appreciate that there is a need for updated data protection legislation in order to keep up with the many technological advances that are taking place and, wherever possible, to simplify the processes for data processing. From this perspective, we welcome the Government’s ambition to remove unnecessary red tape and to support British businesses and our economy. However, as ever, these priorities need to be balanced alongside appropriate security of new legislation and we must ensure that there are appropriate safeguards in the Bill to protect human rights that are fundamental to our democracy.

Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester welcomes focus on victims and opportunity for clarified legislation

On 18th December 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Victims & Prisoners Bill, applauding the focus on victims and welcoming the bill as an opportunity for clarity of legislation and statutory instruments:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am grateful to His Majesty’s Government for introducing this Bill. I am also grateful that shortly we will hear a maiden speech from the noble Lord, Lord Carter of Haslemere. His long experience of the law and the Civil Service will serve your Lordships’ House well. I look forward to his remarks today and on many future occasions.

I also welcome the focus on victims that lies at the heart of the Bill. As we have just heard, it builds on the report of my right reverend friend Bishop James Jones, a former Member of your Lordships’ House, into the Hillsborough tragedy. I was a young member of the clergy called into the stadium to support bereaved families. I will never forget the sight of iron barriers twisted out of shape by the pressure of human bodies being crushed against them. Hence I warmly commend the proposal for independent public advocates in cases such as that and the Manchester Arena attack, to which the Minister referred in his opening remarks—I thank him for doing so. As Bishop of Manchester, it fell to me to help lead my city’s response to the brutal murder of 22 people and the injuring and traumatising of hundreds of others.

Victims & Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Newcastle raises potential effects on children and families, and migrant victims of domestic abuse

The Bishop of Newcastle spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Victims & Prisoners Bill on 18th December 2023, welcoming the bill while pointing out several areas of concern relating to children and families, migrant victims of domestic abuse, and the issue of imprisonment for public protection:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, it is a privilege to speak today, to follow the noble and learned Lord, and to be in the company of those to follow. This is an important piece of legislation. We all know that the work of delivering justice for victims does not end with this legislation. Ultimately, we all want safer communities, so it is vital that we consider what really helps to rehabilitate people in prison so that they do not offend again on release. The work of reconciliation and restoration, challenging as it is, invites us to consider deeper issues. Root and branch reform of the criminal justice system is long overdue.

There are unresolved issues with the Bill, some of which I hope will be considered in this House. I will mention four very briefly, which my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester will be interested in as the Bill progresses.

Bishop of Durham speaks in debate on Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the government’s immigration partnership with Rwanda

The Bishop of Durham spoke in a debate on what steps the government are taking to promote the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 11th December 2023, stressing the dangers of the potential incompatibility of the government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum & Immigration) Bill with the UDHR:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay of St Johns, for securing this debate, and for the way in which she has stood for these issues for many years.

The United Nation’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a milestone in the history of our world. It marked a global commitment to put human beings above conflict, above the politics of division and above economic gain, granting each individual dignity without discrimination. Though we are 75 years on, promoting the human rights laid out in the declaration remains as vital today as it was in 1948.

The principles and values of human rights lie in the conviction that each human being is unique, made in the image of God and loved by God. Each person is valuable for who they are, not what they are able to do. Thus it applies to every infant and child, and to every frail elderly person, as much as to those who are regarded as wholly fit and able.

Bishop of Chelmsford raises need for affordable and sustainable housing for families during Archbishop of Canterbury’s debate

The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s debate on the work of the Families & Households Commission and the “Love Matters” report on 8th November 2023, bringing up the need for stable and affordable housing:

My Lords, I too thank my most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury for securing this important debate. Love Matters is, as noble Lords have already remarked, impressive for its scale and breadth. Covering subjects from tackling child poverty to valuing single people in our churches, the report is able to draw some creative links across a range of topics.

Today, however, given my role as the lead bishop for housing in the Church of England, I want to focus my remarks on the report’s findings on bricks, mortar and the communities that well-designed, affordable housing can foster. It is in houses and flats that families and households of different shapes and sizes are built, and housing which, done right, creates homes and can enable the health and prosperity of those who live in them. I want here to thank in particular the noble Lord, Lord Mann, for his valuable contribution on housing-related issues in this debate.

Noble Lords will know that this report is the last in a series of three. The first, published in 2021, was on the work for which I am now responsible: housing, church and community. I cannot take any credit for the report itself, but I am delighted to be involved in that work. The report, to which the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury has already referred, was called Coming Home, and it recommended, among other things, that housing needed to be stable, affordable and of high quality to enable people to put down roots and build healthy lives, families and neighbourhoods.

Bishop of Gloucester speaks on the criminal justice system during debate on “Love Matters” report of the Families & Households Commission

The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s debate on families on 8th December 2023, focusing on the criminal justice system and its effects on families:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I will try to do even better than 10 minutes. I am grateful to my most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury for putting forward this Motion. I should like to focus my remarks on families and children in relation to the criminal justice system, and particularly imprisonment, and I declare an interest as Anglican Bishop for Prisons in England and Wales.

Jesus Christ once placed a child front and centre as he taught his listeners. I want to use that image simply to pose the idea that we would navigate things differently, we would see different sorts of manifestos committed to the long-term and make better policies if the child were always the central focus and starting point for all our policy-making. It seems that so much of government policy is focused on short-term fixing for the now or a few years’ time. What would it look like if policy and legislation were shaped in response to the child born today into a network of relationships, and then their life as an adult in 20 or 30 years’ time?

Bishop of Durham speaks in debate on the work of the Families & Households Commission

On 8th December 2023, The Bishop of Durham spoke in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s debate on families, mentioning the importance of preparation when entering marriage, and the need for supportive and strong communities:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I thank the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury for holding this debate on a matter that is foundational to not only the well-being of us as individuals but the whole of society. I should obviously declare my interest as co-chair of the commission that produced the report. I also thank him for the privilege of being asked to co-chair it, alongside Professor Janet Walker. It was an honour to work with her and the 10 other commission members in listening and speaking to children, young people and adults from all faiths and all walks of life.

I thank each of the commission members, who generously gave their time and expertise voluntarily to contribute to this. Their work has been invaluable. I also pay tribute to the Children’s Commissioner for England for the way in which she shared with us her work, which took place in parallel. Our conclusions are remarkably similar.

My most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury opened the debate by speaking poignantly on the importance of family. I will speak on what is at the very heart of families, which is relationships. Throughout the commission, we met and spoke with people from across the country. They were people from different backgrounds, ages, cultures and faiths. Despite these differences, there was a theme that echoed throughout all our conversations: the importance of family and loving relationships.

Archbishop leads debate on support for families and households

On 8th December 2023 the Archbishop of Canterbury led a debate in the House of Lords on the following motion:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury to move that this House takes note of ‘Love Matters’, the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households.

The opening speech made by the Archbishop is below. More information and a copy of the report on which the debate was based, can be read here.

The opening speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his House of Lords debate on families

Immigration & Nationality Fees: Bishop of Chichester raises threat of increased levels of child poverty

On 4th December 2023, the Bishop of Chichester spoke in a debate on a motion to regret tabled by Baroness Lister on the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023, raising the potential impact the change in regulations would have on levels of child poverty:

The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, I am enormously grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, for bringing this debate to us. I underline my great support for everything that she said, as well as what has been said in other contributions.

Bishop of London leads debate on impact of the removal of free prescriptions for benefits claimants

The Bishop of London tabled a question for short debate on the impact of the proposed removal of free prescriptions for benefit claimants who fail to look for work on 30th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of London: To ask His Majesty’s Government what impact the removal of free prescriptions for benefit claimants who fail to look for work will have on their health, and the health of the workforce.

My Lords, I start by thanking your Lordships’ House for giving time for this important debate. I also thank the House of Lords Library for its very helpful briefing and the Minister for his engagement with me and for our helpful meeting earlier this week about this debate.

The measures we are discussing today relate to the announcement that the Government made in the Back to Work Plan and the Autumn Statement that people on universal credit who do not engage in activities designed to increase their skills and improve their employability after 18 months of support will have their claim terminated. With that termination, their accompanying passported benefits, including free prescriptions, will also be stopped.

Benefit claimants may disengage from Jobcentre Plus for many reasons, some of which I suspect we do not completely understand, and not solely because they have failed to look for work. I have brought this debate forward from a health perspective, and the central frame of my remarks today is around health inequalities, because the Back to Work Plan as it stands could serve to exacerbate these inequalities. There are many complexities within universal credit, and many exemptions and allowances that are made for vulnerabilities and medical conditions that are to be commended. I was grateful to hear about some of them at the meeting I had earlier in the week with the Minister and officials from DWP and DHSC. I understand that the number of people who will be affected by this is small: they are those without a vulnerability that would exempt them from having their claim ended, and who do not have an additional factor attached to their claim.

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