The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 22nd February 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what representations, if any, they have made to the government of Eritrea to encourage its military withdrawal from Ethiopia.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about conflict in Ethiopia and Eritrea”
The Bishop of Coventry received the following written answer on 11th February 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk of ethnic cleansing in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; and what discussions they have had with the government of Azerbaijan about the use of derogatory language that could increase the risk of conflict in that region.
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh region”
The Bishop of Coventry asked a question on UK aid to Yemen and government policies on arms sales to Saudi Arabia on 10th February 2021, following a government statement on the humanitarian situation in Yemen:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, the United Nations predicts that the number of Yemenis experiencing famine-like conditions will reach 47,000 by June, nearly triple that of December. In the light of the signals that US policy towards Yemen is changing, as we have heard, and the upcoming aid review, will the Government commit to at least maintaining their current aid commitments to Yemen? Further to earlier questions, does the Minister agree that the public find it hard to understand how the Government intend to reconcile their role of being both arms seller to Saudi Arabia and peacemaker and aid-giver in Yemen?
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about UK aid to Yemen and arms sales to Saudi Arabia”The Bishop of Coventry received the following written answers on 4th February 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Coventry asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Armenian Churches in areas returned to Azerbaijan have been labelled as ‘Caucasian Albanian’; what discussions they have with the government of Azerbaijan about such reports; and what discussions they have had with the government of Russia about ensuring that Armenian culture is protected in line with the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, made on 9 November 2020.
Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 1st February 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the report by the UNOCHA Ethiopia—Tigray Region Humanitarian Update Situation Report, published on 6 January, what assessment they have made of reports of (1) food shortages, (2) looting, (3) sexual violence, and (3) damage to cultural heritage, in Tigray.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about humanitarian situation in Tigray”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 2oth January 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Eritrean soldiers are stealing religious artefacts from churches in Tigray.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about theft of religious artefacts from churches in Tigray”
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to African members of the Commonwealth to encourage them to ensure a peaceful solution to the conflict in Tigray. [HL10708]Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about Ethiopia, armed conflict and food shortages:”
On 10th October 2016, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne moved the motion “that this House takes note of the Report from the Sexual Violence in Conflict Committee (Session 2015–16, HL Paper 123).” The Bishop of Derby, the Rt. Revd. Alastair Redfern, who was a member of the Committee, spoke in the debate.
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I, too, served on the committee, and it was a great privilege to be part of it. I pay tribute to the expert chairmanship of the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson. We were, to put it mildly, a diverse group, but she held us together, and we produced a report that will be significant as a foundation, as other noble Lords have said. I also offer my congratulations to the Minister, who leads by great example, as seen not just at the recent meeting at the UN in September but in all kinds of ways. She has been an encouragement and a force for the right direction within government, and I am very grateful for that contribution. I also pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Hague, for his PSV initiative. I had the privilege of being present at the summit in 2014, which has created a momentum that we need to learn from and develop. I will pick up the theme mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Hague, of the significance of important Governments making a public stand. In doing that, I will also speak as a faith community leader. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby discusses committee report on sexual violence in conflict”
On 23rd February 2016 Lord Grade of Yarmouth led a short debate in the House of Lords to ask Her Majesty’s Government “what steps they are taking to increase understanding of the Middle East.” The Bishop of Worcester, Rt Revd John Inge, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Empey, drew attention to our consistent lack of understanding of the Middle East. In the brief time available to me, I should like to highlight one area of that lack of understanding—the religious dimension. What concerns me is the lack of religious literacy in our society even among opinion formers and decision-makers. By religious literacy I mean, as his grace the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury put it recently, not just propositional knowledge but emotional intelligence that enables us to understand the place of faith in other people’s lives. Only with that sort of knowledge will we understand the ideological drivers to discord and violence that poison life in the Middle East, and not just between Israelis and Palestinians. How many understand the disenfranchisement and disenchantment felt in Sunni heartlands, for example? Continue reading “Bishop of Worcester- deep religious literacy fundamental precursor to understanding the Middle East”
“I hope that in this debate we will see how the different strands of soft and hard power can be better combined, and there can be a clearer sense of the narrative which sustains this wonderful country which has in the past given so much to the world when at its best, and has the potential to give even more if the advantages of our history, the skills of our institutions and the courage of our people are combined with a clear aim in view.”
On 5th December 2014, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, led a debate in the House of Lords to take note of the role of soft power and non-military responses to conflict prevention. In his opening speech, he reflected on the UK’s role in the wider world and the soft power assets it has at its disposal – the diplomatic services, the BBC, the British Council, the Commonwealth, overseas development assistance and the Church, particularly through relationships with the Anglican Communion. He spoke of the need to better understand ourselves, so as to be more effective in projecting the values and influence of the UK overseas. He also noted that the next Strategic Defence and Security Review needed to reflect the central relationship between soft and hard power, and called for more joined-up working across Government to ensure this was the case. Following his opening speech, twenty-six other members of the House contributed to the debate, including the Bishop of Derby, whose remarks can be read here. The Archbishop closed with his reflections on the topics discussed in the course of the debate. Continue reading “Archbishop of Canterbury leads House of Lords debate on conflict prevention”
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