Letter: Honour Britain’s tradition of saving child refugees

The following letter appeared in The Sunday Times on 2nd September 2018. Signatories included two Lords Spiritual, the Bishops of Durham and Southwark, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams of Oystermouth:

Honour Britain’s tradition of saving child refugees

Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders call on the government to offer sanctuary

September 2 2018

Three years ago today Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Kurdish refugee, drowned because he had no safe route to sanctuary in Europe. The lives of more than 9,000 people fleeing war and persecution have been lost in the Mediterranean since that little boy’s death.

This autumn Britain will mark a more hopeful anniversary. Eighty years ago the Kindertransport was launched, a rescue operation that saved 10,000 Jewish and other refugee children from Nazi persecution.

Now it is our turn to honour that legacy by helping more child refugees to find safety here. On this anniversary we call on the government to match the efforts of the Kindertransport and establish a lasting route to protection in the UK for 10,000 child refugees in future years. Continue reading “Letter: Honour Britain’s tradition of saving child refugees”

Britain is facing a ‘generational time bomb’ of children conditioned to think that gambling is normal, says Bishop of St Albans

The following article by the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, was published in the Daily Telegraph.

Britain is facing a ‘generational time bomb’ of children conditioned to think that gambling is normal

Alan Smith
17 AUGUST 2018 • 9:30 PM

Ask any parent or teacher and they will tell you children play a lot of online games, including Fortnite which has taken the world by storm. What they might not know is that these games allow children to gamble quite openly – just without money.

This is all legal because of a loophole. And at the same time, whether on tablets or phones, children are bombarded with ads which make gambling sound like harmless fun.

The combined effect of these two factors is that, like Pavlov’s Dogs, a generation of children are being conditioned to gamble. Continue reading “Britain is facing a ‘generational time bomb’ of children conditioned to think that gambling is normal, says Bishop of St Albans”

Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Planning Policy in Rural Areas

On the 07 August 2018 the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith received a written answer from Lord Bourne about planning policy in rural areas.

Continue reading “Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Planning Policy in Rural Areas”

Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Bengali-Muslim’s in Assam State losing their Indian citizenship

On the 3 August 2018 the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith received a written answer from Lord Ahmad about Bengali-Muslim’s in Assam State  

Continue reading “Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Bengali-Muslim’s in Assam State losing their Indian citizenship”

Written Answer – Bishop of Durham questions the Government about the two child limit and Child Tax Credit

On 2nd August 2018 the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler received a written answer from Lord Bates about Child Tax Credit.

Continue reading “Written Answer – Bishop of Durham questions the Government about the two child limit and Child Tax Credit”

Written Answer – Bishop of Durham questions the Government about Social Security Benefits and two child limit.

On the 25 July 2018 the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler received three written answers from Lord Bates about the number of households affected by the two child limit.

Continue reading “Written Answer – Bishop of Durham questions the Government about Social Security Benefits and two child limit.”

Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Gaming Machines

On the 25th July 2018 the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith received a written answer from Lord Ashton about Gaming Machines.

Continue reading “Written Answer – Bishop of St Albans questions the Government about Gaming Machines”

Church Commissioners: Cathedral Insolvency

On 25th July 2018 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP, answered a written question from Nia Griffith MP about cathedral insolvency arrangements: Continue reading “Church Commissioners: Cathedral Insolvency”

Bishop of Durham asks Government about families affected by two-child limit on welfare benefits

On 25th July 2018 the Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, received three written answers to questions about families affected by the two-child limit on benefit claims:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children published on 28 June by HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions, of the 70,620 households affected, and not in receipt of an exception, what are the number of households with (1) 3 dependent children, (2) 4 dependent children, and (3) 5 or more dependent children. Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks Government about families affected by two-child limit on welfare benefits”

Bishop of St Albans asks Government about meetings with stakeholders on betting machines

On 25th July 2018 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer to a question on meetings held by civil servants and ministers with stakeholders on fixed-odds betting terminals:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans:  To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings civil servants and ministers had with stakeholders between 1 January and 11 July about the reduction in stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2; and what were the (1) dates, (2) locations, and (3) attendees, of each of those meetings. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks Government about meetings with stakeholders on betting machines”