On 6th July 2023, a debate was held in the House of Commons on the motion That this House has considered the matter of bishops in the House of Lords, organised by the All-Party-Parliamentary Humanist Group. Andrew Selous MP, the second Church Estates Commissioner, spoke in the debate:
Tommy Shepherd MSP (SNP, Edinburgh East): I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of bishops in the House of Lords.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Davies. Some people, perhaps including members of my party, might wonder why a member of the SNP has secured a debate on the House of Lords, so I want to make it clear from the outset that my principal role here today is as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary humanist group, which comprises more than 150 Members of both Houses and has representatives from all the main political parties. I moved the motion in that capacity.
Aaron Bell MP (Con, Newcastle-under-Lyme): As secretary of the same group, I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate, which is not only overdue, but timely: as he knows, yesterday in the Lords, there were amendments to the Government’s legislation. I suspect he agrees with the principle of those amendments—he and I differ on that—and he probably agrees with me that the archbishop who tabled them is a very distinguished Member of that House, but does he share my sense of unease about somebody who has not been elected or appointed, and who is merely in the Lords in his capacity as a bishop, potentially changing the law of this country?
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The Church of England in Parliament 
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