On 6th May 2014, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, recieved answers to two written questions on the subject of apprenticeships.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of apprentices enter into employment with the company to which they were apprenticed after their apprenticeship scheme has finished.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con): We publish information on learning outcomes on the Further Education Choices website to help better inform learner choices. This website presents information on learner outcomes with any employer as well as other destinations:
On 6th May 2014, the Rt Revd John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, recieved answers to two written questions on the Central African Republic.
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which sexual violence has been used by all parties to the conflict in the Central African Republic.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Reports suggest that sexual violence in conflict is widespread in the Central African Republic (CAR). UN Security Council Resolution 2149 on CAR authorises a UN Peacekeeping Operation which will, as part of its mandate, be required to help to prevent sexual violence, and contribute to efforts to identify and prosecute perpetrators. The UK is also looking to provide funding to the African Union (AU)’s response to the urgent needs of CAR’s victims of sexual violence, and to track and report on specific occurrences of sexual violence. We encourage CAR to endorse the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and to attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, in London in June 2014.
On 6th May 2014, the Rt Revd Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry, recieved an answer to a written question on the current situation in Egypt.
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the independence of the judiciary in Egypt.
The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi): The new Egyptian constitution, adopted in January 2014, states that the judicial system is independent, and allows the judiciary its own budget, and to appoint the Prosecutor General and members of the Supreme Constitutional Court. We do, however, have some concerns over recent judicial decisions, including the sentencing to death of 529 people in Minya on 24 March. Reports that many of the defendants were tried in their absence and may not have been represented properly are deeply troubling. We have been urging the Egyptian authorities to ensure that the rights of defendants are fully respected in all cases.
“The ability to pray and worship as one wishes is a fundamental human right, and one that we, as elected democrats, should always seek to defend.” – Rt Hon Sir Tony Baldry MP, 1/5/14
On 1st May 2014 a debate was held in the House of Commons on ‘Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion’. The debate was led by the Alliance MP for Belfast East, Naomi Long. Rt Hon Sir Tony Baldry MP, who is the Second Church Estates Commissioner, took part in the debate and his speech is below. The full debate can be read on the UK Hansard website here.Continue reading “MPs debate freedom of thought, conscience and religion”
“The relationship between Church and State is not a matter of special privileges granted by an all-powerful State to one particular faith. It is a relationship that has been at the heart of our forms of government for many centuries, and which has weathered enormous changes – even a civil war.”
“There is the big picture for every politician who seeks to be more than a mere manager of the state’s business, a part of the mechanism of collecting Caesar’s taxes. Good government from a Christian point of view is about the acknowledgement and reinforcement of human dignity.”- Rowan Williams, 8/6/10
Most Rev Dr Rowan Williams addressing MPs & Peers at the service for the new Parliament, St Margaret’s Westminster, 8/6/10
On Easter Day, 20th April 2014, the Church of England Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield, will be merged to form a new Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales. The bishops of those former dioceses will no longer sit in Parliament as Lords Spiritual. Here – in the last of three parts – is a (very) brief history of the Bishops of Bradford as parliamentarians. Parts one (Ripon) & two (Wakefield) can be viewed here & here.
Part Three: The Bishops of Bradford
Since the formation of the Diocese of Bradford in 1920, there have been ten diocesan bishops of Bradford.
Perowne and Blunt
Bishop Arthur Perowne
Its first bishop was Rt Rev Arthur Perowne, who served until his translation to Worcester in 1931. Bishop Perowne was born into a distinguished ecclesiastical family (his father John James Stewart Perowne, was also a Bishop of Worcester). Bishop Perowne was introduced to the House of Lords in November 1923, and whilst there is no record of him making any speeches in his eight years as a member, after his translation to Worcester he spoke in support of better regulation of clubs serving alcohol. Continue reading “Lords Spiritual No Longer, Part Three: The Bishops of Bradford”
On Easter Day, 20th April 2014, the Church of England Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield, will be merged to form a new Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales. Here – in three parts – is a (very) brief history of the bishops of those dioceses as parliamentarians. Part One (Ripon) can be viewed here.
Part Two: The Bishops of Wakefield
All but one of the 12 who held office as Bishop of Wakefield during the 126 year history of the diocese served in the House of Lords.
On Easter Day, 20th April 2014, the Church of England Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield, will be merged to form a new Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales. Although the bishop of that new diocese will in due course join other bishops in the House of Lords, the dissolution of the three former dioceses marks an end to the era of the Bishops of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield as Lords Spiritual. Much has been written and recorded about the wider contributions of successive occupants of these Sees, but here – in three parts – is a (very) brief history of those bishops as parliamentarians.
Part One: The Bishops of Ripon
Since its formation in 1836 there have been 12 bishops of the diocese of Ripon (and latterly, Ripon & Leeds).
Longley and Bickersteth
Its first bishop was Rt Rev Charles Longley, who served until his translation to Durham in 1856, before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1862.
Bishop Charles Longley
Longley had married the daughter of the Postmaster General in Prime Minister Lord Melbourne’s Government. However, as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography records, “Melbourne agreed that Longley need not be constrained to vote with the government on matters of Irish church policy. Longley actually voted against the government on other issues besides the Irish church, to Melbourne’s pain and displeasure… Longley opposed the Oxford University Bill of 1854 which, among other things, reduced the proportion of clerical fellows in each college and reconstituted the central government of the university. In 1854 Longley was named as one of two churchmen who would join the executive commissioners empowered to revise the statutes of the university and colleges of Oxford.”Continue reading “Lords Spiritual No Longer, Part One: The Bishops of Ripon”
11th April 2014: The Diocese of Oxford has announced that Rt Rev John Pritchard will retire as Bishop of Oxford on 31st October this year. Bishop John, who chairs the Church of England’s Board of Education and leads for the Bishops in the House of Lords on education & church schools, will also cease to be a member of the Lords on that date. Continue reading “Bishop of Oxford announces retirement”
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of apprentices enter into employment with the company to which they were apprenticed after their apprenticeship scheme has finished.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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