Bishops of St Albans and Southwark ask government to issue standards for biodegradable plastic bags

StAlbans051218On 7th May 2019 Lord Dubs asked the Government “what their latest proposals are to reduce the use of plastics.”. The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith and the Bishop of Southwark, Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, asked follow up questions: 

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, many consumers are now choosing to use biodegradable bags rather than plastic ones, believing these to be preferable, yet researchers from the University of Plymouth have shown that many of these bags are not in fact biodegradable. Will Her Majesty’s Government undertake to produce clear standards and guidelines so we can be sure that these are biodegradable and improve the environment, and that we are not misled?

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Week in Westminster 29th April – 3rd May 2019

This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke about proposals for dealing with climate change, online harms and gaming addiction, and access to low-cost credit. They asked questions about rural crime, street preachers, and the impact of the two-child limit for certain benefit payments. Continue reading “Week in Westminster 29th April – 3rd May 2019”

Bishop of Salisbury calls for climate action and legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2045

On 2nd May 2019 the House of Lords debated a motion from Lord Rooker, that “this House takes note of Her Majesty’s Government’s legal responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as detailed in the Climate Change Act 2008 and the implications of continuing climatic changes for global security and stability and for the world economy.” The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, the context of this debate has changed radically over the past few months. Whatever you think of the tactics of Extinction Rebellion, what has been created by its disruption has put the environment on the agenda in a new way and with greater urgency. The debate in the other place yesterday on a climate emergency was Parliament catching up with more than 40 councils in the UK that have decided to act in response to this climate emergency, including Wiltshire declaring that it will be carbon neutral by 2030. Two-thirds of Britons are now said to agree that the planet is in a climate emergency.

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Bishop of St Albans asks Government what is being done to tackle hare coursing and rural crime

On 2nd May 2019 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, asked a question he had tabled, on rural crime. The answer, his follow-up, and those of other Members are reproduced below:

Farming Communities: Rural Crime

Question

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of rural crime on farming communities.

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Archbishop of York on the need for access to low-cost credit

On 1st May 2019 the House of Lords debated a Motion from Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, “That this House takes note of the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Naming and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/383).” The Archbishop of York, Most Revd John Sentamu, spoke in the debate:

The Archbishop of York: My Lords, I want to support the main thrust of the speech from the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, about debt. Julia Unwin, who was chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, did a big research project on why people were going to Wonga. They went to Wonga because it asked no questions; people knew they could get their payday loan. Other lenders asked more questions and were far more intrusive and credit was not readily available. Noble Lords know that my archiepiscopal colleague, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that he intended not only to reform Wonga but to do away with it, and we know what has happened to Wonga.

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Bishop of St Albans asks whether police receive guidance or training on dealing with street preachers

On 1st May the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer to a question on guidance to police about street preachers, and religious literacy training:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: HL15288 To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 3 April (HL14707), whether the Home Office provides any particular guidance to police officers in relation to freedom of speech and street preachers; whether police officers receive training on religious literacy; and if so, whether any such training is mandatory.

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Bishop of St Albans welcomes Online Harms proposals, calls for action on gaming addiction

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, this is a vast subject, and I will limit my comments to just a few areas.

I and others on these Benches welcome this White Paper, in particular the attempt to rethink the way we see this whole area. In the past we brought in individual laws to deal with particular problems. My colleague the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford has been arguing for some while that we need to see this as public space. We need to try to understand how we can regulate it from first principles in a way that guarantees the freedoms we want and the huge benefits ​that have come through the online world, which has made a huge and incalculable difference to our lives, but also protects the many people who are vulnerable. We have heard some account of just some of the problems some people have faced.

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Bishop of St Albans asks Government to investigate effect of two-child limit policy

On 30th April 2019 Baroness Massey of Darwen asked the Government “what plans they have to develop a cross-departmental action plan to address the conclusions and recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s assessment of the United Kingdom in 2016, in order to ensure that all public bodies act to protect and promote children’s rights.” The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, asked a follow up question:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the UNCRC states that the best interests of the child must be paramount in all decision making and yet evidence that our Benches are collecting shows that the two-child limit policy is having a substantially negative impact on those families affected by it. In the light of the Government’s obligations under UNCRC, will the Minister undertake to commission independent research into the impact of the two-child limit policy on those families which are affected by it?

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Week in Westminster 22nd-26th April 2019

This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke about new Relationships and Sex Education regulations, and the impact of digital advertising on children. They asked questions about the impact of the two-child limit for certain benefit payments, the attacks against Christians in Sri Lanka, community sponsorship of refugees, and the UK’s future relationship with the EU. In the House of Commons the Second Church Estates Commissioner answered a question on community use of church buildings. Continue reading “Week in Westminster 22nd-26th April 2019”

Bishop of Durham raises impact on children of digital advertising

On 25th April 2019 the House of Lords debated a Motion from Lord Gilbert of Panteg, “That this House takes note of the Report from the Communications Committee UK advertising in a digital age (1st Report, HL Paper 116).” The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert of Panteg, and the committee for the report, which made for fascinating reading. My friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford sends his apologies for not being in his place today; he is elsewhere in the world with the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury, and so asked me to address one or two matters. I take complete responsibility for what I say, although he said that I must talk about self-regulation.

We all love digital; at least, most of us do. We love its possibilities. I do not go anywhere without my phone, frankly: I keep looking at it and I get bombarded with adverts through it. It was not planned but, yesterday evening, as it happens, I watched a lecture from a two-day conference for theologians being held in Durham this week, entitled “Missio Dei in a digital age”. Maggi Dawn, a British theologian based at Yale University, tracked the history of the impact of digital on Christian mission. She said this about how we handle digital:

“We need to recognise both the glorious possibilities of digital and its profound brokenness”.

Her point was that although digital is wonderful, with glorious possibilities we must use to the full, we must not fail to recognise its profound brokenness because it is infected by human beings, who make all kinds of mistakes in their use of things. Continue reading “Bishop of Durham raises impact on children of digital advertising”