Tag: diplomacy

Bishop of St Albans asks about training on freedom of religion and belief for those in the diplomatic service

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 19th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to put in place mandatory training for diplomats on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con, Foreign Office): In July 2021, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB), Fiona Bruce, MP, and I, launched the FCDO International Academy’s training module “Religion for International Engagement,” delivering recommendation 11 of the Bishop of Truro’s review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians. The training is essential for FCDO diplomats, and highly recommended for all FCDO staff. The training is also available to all civil servants.

Hansard

Bishop of Southwark asks about territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 10th January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking (1) to reduce tensions, and (2) to support efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the territorial dispute, between Venezuela and Guyana.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about threats to underseas infrastructure

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on communication with global allies regarding threats to undersea infrastructure on 25th April 2023, referencing recent events in Taiwan:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I was interested to hear the Minister commenting on our engagement with our European allies. However, with reports recently that submarine cables connecting the Taiwanese mainland with the island of Matsu have been cut by Chinese boats, this is an international problem. What consultations are we having with allies around the world; in particular, so that we can try to develop back-up systems when countries are put under threat by this sort of action?

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Bishop of Leeds asks about diplomatic efforts in Sudan

On 19th April 2023, The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on the possibility of utilising connections in the religious community to aid in diplomatic channels in Sudan, following outbreaks of violence in Sudan and the city of Khartoum:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, the question of threats is one that I am slightly bemused about. I want to pay tribute to the work of UK diplomats in Sudan. I have been going there since 2011; my diocese has a link with the whole of Sudan going back over 40 years and I am in daily contact with the Archbishop of Sudan. In his cathedral the other day, he managed to get all the families—42 of them including children—secured in an internal building. They then had to watch their homes and elements of the cathedral being shot up, all their vehicles destroyed, offices ransacked and so on.

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Bishop of Coventry asks about sanctions against Russia

Following an update on the unfolding situation in Ukraine on 22nd February 2022, the Bishop of Coventry asked a question on combining diplomacy with sanctions:

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, these are dark days indeed for Europe, but unlike the noble Lord, Lord Newby, I welcome the commitment in the Statement to unrelenting diplomacy. Does the Leader agree that the stronger the sanctions, the better placed that diplomatic work will be? Is there a particular contribution that Britain can make in the diplomatic engagement even now?

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Bishop of Coventry urges government to consider responsibility in the captivity of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

The Bishop of Coventry raised a question of forgiveness and responsibility in the government response to the continued imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran on 15th November 2021, during a debate on what action the government was taking to facilitate her release and return to the UK:

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, what does the Minister think Governments on both sides might have to learn from a simple prayer that was once prayed on this day in Coventry, after the destruction of the city? It is a simple prayer but a brave one; it simply says: “Father, forgive.” It does not try to forgive the other side, or even to absolve the other side from responsibility, but it does say that, somewhere along the line, both sides, in whatever proportion, need to accept that a very deep hole has been dug and suffering people have fallen into it. In this case, there is a suffering woman at the bottom of the hole, and her husband and child. Can we not do more to accept that there is something we have a responsibility for?

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Bishop of Southwark asks about plans to increase UK diplomatic infrastructure

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 23rd June 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to their Global Britain in a Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (CP403), published on 16 March, what plans they have to increase the UK’s (1) diplomatic presence, and (2) other infrastructure, around the globe.

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Bishop of Coventry asks about relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The Bishop of Coventry received the following written answers on 29th April 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Coventry asked Her Majesty’s Government:

  • what assessment they have made of the opening of a museum in Azerbaijan on the second Nagorno Karabakh War on relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
  • what steps they are taking to promote dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
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Bishop of Leeds asks about issues of sovereignty in relation to the EU and the USA

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on contested ideas of sovereignty on 1st March 2021 during a discussion on diplomatic relationships with the US, contrasting portrayals of the UK’s relationship with the EU and with the United States:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, notions of sovereignty are clearly contested, even in the way we use the language. Is it time for a public education programme through which the Government can explain why pooled sovereignty with the EU is a deficit for the UK but when it is pooled with the United States, it is seen as a positive?

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Bishop of Coventry speaks on military intervention in Syria

Coventry171122 bOn 16th April Baroness Evans of Bowes Park repeated a statement from the Prime Minister on the UK’s military action in Syria. The Bishop of Coventry, the Rt Revd Christopher Cocksworth, responded to the statement:

 

The Bishop of Coventry: My Lords, it was very good to hear that assurance from the Leader of the House on the commitment to a long-term diplomatic solution. I Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry speaks on military intervention in Syria”