Tag: coronavirus

Bishop of Leeds speaks in debate on COVID-19 restrictions, considering questions of parliamentary scrutiny, public health, and personal freedom

On 15th December 2021, the House of Lords debated a motion to approve continued COVID-19 Health Protection Restrictions. The Bishop of Leeds spoke in the debate, responding to issues of public health and personal freedom raised by other peers, and contrasting these issues with approaches to other legislation:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, in one sense I hesitate to contribute to this debate, which has been very interesting for lots of reasons. We sit in a Chamber where we contribute to the making of law, which is precisely about the infringement of people’s freedoms—that is what law is—so I struggle with the arguments about freedom. Yesterday or the day before we talked about infringing people’s freedoms regarding the right to protest, for example. I hope to hear the same arguments about the importance of freedom when we get to some of those very restrictive debates.

There are two issues here that we must not confuse. One is the public health issue and the demands of that; I hear everything that has been said about good scientists and bad scientists, and I totally agree that science is not God and scientists are not messiahs—noble Lords would expect me to say that anyway—but our job is to interpret the science with a view to then taking responsible decisions on behalf of other people. Like the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, and his immuno- compromised situation, my wife up in Leeds is immuno- compromised because of radical chemotherapy for cancer at the moment. I had to think very carefully about whether I should come down here, and I question how it will be when I go back.

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Bishop of Leeds asks about local advocacy for vaccination

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on the utility of organisations such as the Anglican Communion to aid in the uptake of vaccines in their local areas, during a debate on worldwide vaccine donations on 14th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, it is not just a matter of quantity, supply and logistics but, as the Minister indicated, of vaccine hesitancy. What consideration have the Government given to working with partners such as the Anglican Communion, which is well placed at local level to work with local leaders to use the right language and to persuade local people to take the vaccines?

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Bishop of St Albans speaks in debate on vaccination requirements, highlighting issues regarding vaccination and people of faith

On 14th December 2021, the House of Lords debated a motion to approve the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, which would extend vaccination requirements in health and social care settings. The Bishop of St Albans gave a speech on the issue of vaccine hesitancy, highlighting concerns people of faith might have regarding vaccination:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I think many of us are grateful for the comments from the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, about process and impact assessments, and I echo those.

I shall make one or two comments about the substantive issues. Incidentally, we have been thanking the Government and medics for the rollout, but I want to pay tribute to the people who are going to be sitting up half the night: the managers of GP practices—they are the ones who get people there to get the vaccine. Very often they are forgotten, so I want to make that point.

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Bishop of Durham asks about COVID-19 disease control

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 10th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government whether 14 residents in a dormitory meets the UKHSA recommendations for a COVID-19 compliant environment; and if so, what guidance informed this recommendation.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about support for COVID-19 vaccination in developing countries

The Bishop of St Albans tabled a question on support for COVID-19 vaccination programmes in developing countries on 2nd December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support COVID-19 vaccination programmes in developing countries following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con): My Lords, the new variant omicron is showing us yet again that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Global vaccination continues to be vital for our defences against the pandemic and we are committed to making sure that people in the poorest countries get vaccines. We are a leading supporter of COVAX, which has delivered over 483 million vaccines to low and middle-income countries. This will rise to 1.8 billion doses by mid-2022.

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Bishop of Durham asks about vaccine donation in light of new Omicron variant of COVID-19

On 29th November 2021, the Bishop of Durham asked a question on plans for bilateral donation of vaccines, urging the government to commit to a global approach to vaccine donation:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: In the light of the new omicron variant that has dominated the news over the weekend, my colleague Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town urged those of us in rich countries to do better at narrowing inequality of vaccination rates, which are 7% in Africa and 70% in Europe. We must acknowledge that this virus knows no national boundaries and will spread, mutate and return to us in the way that we are seeing, so we need a global approach, not simply a bilateral approach. Will Her Majesty’s Government’s commit to redoubling efforts to seek a truly global approach to vaccine donation to ensure that people in all nations are safer?

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Bishop of Durham asks about cases of COVID-19 among asylum seekers at Napier Barracks

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 1st November 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government how many cases of COVID-19 there have been at Napier Barracks since April.

Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con, Home Office): Twelve people have tested positive for coronavirus whilst accommodated at Napier Barracks since April 2021.

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Bishop of Manchester responds to government statement on COVID-19

On 21st October 2021, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in response to a government statement on COVID-19, urging the government to consider incremental methods of approaching managing the virus:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I apologise for having stood up too early a moment or two ago; I am still very much learning my trade in this House, but I follow the dictum of Martin Luther, that if you must sin, sin boldly.

I am grateful for the Statement, and assure the Minister that the faith communities, which did a lot last year to get health messages to some of the harder-to-reach groups in our society, stand ready to do the same again this winter, but I wonder whether the Government have made a rod for their own back in having plan A versus plan B. It seems a very polar way to deal with things when, actually, we need a more graduated method. Perhaps I might encourage the Government not to be the prisoner of their own rhetoric and for the Minister to share with his colleagues in another place that perhaps we could have steps between a plan A and a plan B: we need gradual, incremental stages as the virus levels rise. I encourage him to try that.

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Bishop of Durham urges government action on rising cases of COVID-19

On 20th October 2021, the Bishop of Durham urged that the government put their “Plan B” into action to combat rising cases of COVID-19, citing the increased strain on emergency services:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I have a daughter who works in A&E in a London hospital who simply says, “Please will you make people act responsibly once again?” It costs us absolutely nothing. We acted too slowly previously. We have seen 10% increases in the last week; please just get on with plan B.

Lord Kamall (Con): I thank the right reverend Prelate for his question. It is important. Personally, I do believe that many people should be wearing masks and that there is evidence for this. But the fact is, we have to look at a number of indicators and balance those up.

Hansard

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Singing in Churches

On 20th July 2021, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Rachael Maskell (Lab, York Central): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what provisions will be put in place for people who remain concerned about covid-19 infection as singing is reintroduced in churches.

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