The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 29th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 29th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con): We are extremely concerned by the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. The Minister for Africa spoke at a Westminster Hall Debate on 3 November. She stated that there is no military solution and the UK has been clear on this from the start. We have consistently called on all warring parties to end hostilities and seek a political dialogue and peaceful solution.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about ongoing conflict in Ethiopia”The Bishop of Coventry asked a question urging the government to commit to participation in European crisis talks on migration on 25th November 2021, following a government statement on the recent deaths of migrants crossing the English Channel:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, the sense of grief that has been hanging over this House for most of the afternoon is testimony to our sense of common humanity. I assure the families of those who died—whoever and wherever they are—of the prayers of this Bench, and I am sure that many other prayers have been offered around your Lordships’ House. We have heard, quite rightly, from the Minister, echoing the Home Secretary, that this requires a co-ordinated international effort. It also clearly has a European dimension. Can the Minister confirm that if, as the French President has suggested, high-level European crisis talks take place on migration, the UK will take a full part and even encourage those conversations to happen?
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about UK participation in European crisis-talks on migration”“what moral authority will we lose, and what price will the Uighurs pay, if we do not do all in our power, whatever the cost, to confront these dreadful atrocities that are unfolding in front of our eyes?”
In the House of Lords on 25th November 2021 Peers debated a Motion from Lord Alton of Liverpool, “That this House takes note of the reported remarks of the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs that a genocide is underway against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, China.”
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for his tireless work in this area. I also share with him a sense of frustration—I feel as if I have stood up so many times as we have engaged with this issue, yet it seems that we are not able to confront it in a way that is really making a difference. Despite all our hopes of human progress, it is quite extraordinary that here we are, at the start of the 21st century, witnessing events such as we see and which are now well documented. There is no doubt that they are going on.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans calls for diplomacy to be matched with action on Uyghur population in China”The Bishop of Coventry asked a question on plans relating to the UK’s international development strategy on 25th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, the integrated review made many ambitious claims about the UK’s international role. I found it gave less away about the principles to meet those claims. Does the Minister accept that to be credible the new development strategy must be rooted in effective development principles, including the Paris declaration and the Accra agenda, and draw on the evidence of what works on the ground?
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about UK’s international development strategy”The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 25th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked Her Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 25th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Azerbaijan regarding that government’s reported occupation of Armenian territory.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan”“a policy that does not go beyond deterrence is not sufficient”
On November 25th 2021 the House of Lords debated a motion from Baroness Hoey, “That this House takes note of the number of migrants arriving in the United Kingdom illegally by boat“.
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for securing this debate, especially at this time. I was helped this morning by the “Thought for the Day” from my colleague, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds, in which he said that this is a time to dig deeper into our emotions and face the grief we feel at the loss of humanity. It is that sense of grief, our common commitment to the preservation and dignity of life, as well as to a passion for justice for those suffering the ills and evils of the world, which unites us. The noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, demonstrated that.
Our shared grief is the proof we do not really need of the humanity and vulnerability that unites us. These common concerns, which underpin both our aim to stop migrants making dangerous journeys and our grief today, are the same concerns and moral instincts that require us to sit back and face the reality that a policy that does not go beyond deterrence is not sufficient.
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry – stopping people smugglers and dangerous channel crossings requires more than policy of deterrence”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the use of British Overseas Territories as tax havens on 24th November 2021, during a debate on prevention of money laundering:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, earlier this year we held a debate on the Church Action for Tax Justice report Tax for the Common Good. When we discussed British Overseas Territories, we looked at the whole issue of tax havens and were assured that this was being addressed, yet the latest Pandora papers reveal that they are still used by shell companies to hide property sales and to avoid tax. Would the Minister agree that, since we are responsible for the defence of these territories, they have a duty to stop siphoning this money off from the UK?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about offshore tax havens in British Overseas Territories”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 24th November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government:
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.