On 8th March 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Nationality and Borders Bill in its third day of the Report stage. Votes were held on several amendments, in which Bishops took part.
Votes: Nationality and Borders Bill
Tag: Durham
Nationality and Borders Bill 2022: Bishop of Durham speaks in support of amendments
On 8th March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in its 3rd day of reports. The Bishop of Durham tabled amendments to the bill and spoke in support of other amendments:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I support Amendment 64A, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Neuberger, to which I have added my name.
I declare my interests in relation to both RAMP and Reset as set out in the register. I am very grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Neuberger and Lady Lister, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, for outlining all the arguments for why this amendment is the right route to take. On Amendment 64, I hear the words about safeguarding but it is a dangerous route to take.
The needs of children have been starkly left unaddressed in so many areas of the Bill. The policies proposed to determine the age of the child are particularly concerning. The child and their best interests, rather than deterrence, must be the starting point in designing these policies. I support the amendment because it is imperative that such assessments are up to standard and based on scientific evidence. We should be seeing help for local authorities to improve their practice through multiagency working so that social workers conduct these assessments and that they are better supported with appropriate funding and training. Making the process stricter will lead to more children being treated as adults. This is extremely concerning given that they will then be placed alone in adult accommodation, with no support or safeguarding.
Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill 2022: Bishop of Durham speaks in support of amendments”Votes: Health and Care Bill
On 7th March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Health and Care Bill in its report stage. Votes were held on amendments in which Bishops took part.
Health and Care Bill: Bishop of Durham speaks in support of amendment to provide for a review on social prescribing
On 7th March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Health and Care Bill in the third day of the report stage. The Bishop of Durham, on behalf of the Lord Bishop of London, spoke in support of amendment 114, tabled by Lord Howarth of Newport, that would introduce a new clause on creative health into the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 114 in the absence of my right reverend friend the Bishop of London, who is having to self-isolate due to having tested positive for Covid—which seems to be a bit of a theme of the first two amendments.
Members of the House will know that my noble friend is very involved, and was very involved in Committee, in speaking about health inequalities. Today, we want to share and highlight the strength of social prescribing and especially the role of faith organisations in helping to deliver this. There is evidence from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing and the National Academy for Social Prescribing. But everyone who sits on these Benches would be able to tell you stories of where faith communities and local charities aid and assist with health improvements through activities which happen through them. Through cultural, creative, art, nature—all sorts of—interventions, people find health relief and are moved forward in improving their health.
Continue reading “Health and Care Bill: Bishop of Durham speaks in support of amendment to provide for a review on social prescribing”Bishop of Durham asks about listening to voices of refugees
The Bishop of Durham asked a question on how the government planned to incorporate refugee voices into creating a resettlement system on 7th March 2022, during a debate on the outcome of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva in 2019:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, it was my privilege to speak at the resettlement conference that happened before the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva in 2019. One of the key lessons that came out of both events was to listen to the voices of refugees in helping to create the system, so that it is more effective. Could the Minister tell us how the voices of refugees in this country are being listened to in order to make the Ukraine system as effective as possible?
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about listening to voices of refugees”Bishop of Durham asks about the cost of living
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 7th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to address the high cost of living, even after the rate of inflation has reduced.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about the cost of living”Bishop of Durham asks about household support fund, cold weather and winter fuel payments
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 7th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government how many people have so far requested assistance from the Household Support Fund.
Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con): Any requests for assistance from Household Support Fund will have been directed to Local Authorities, who are running the schemes in their local area.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about household support fund, cold weather and winter fuel payments”Bishop of Durham asks about sanctions imposed on Burundi
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer to a question on 7th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to revisit the sanctions imposed on Burundi after the lifting of sanctions by the EU and United States of America.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con): We note that the US Government revoked its Burundi sanctions regime in November 2021 and that in February 2022 the EU lifted its suspension on direct financial assistance to the Government of Burundi.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about sanctions imposed on Burundi”Bishop of Durham asks about human rights in Burundi
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 4th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the current level of human rights protection in Burundi.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con): The UK Government welcomes steps taken by the Government of Burundi over the past 18 months, which demonstrate greater commitment to human rights including prisoner releases and engagement with some media outlets.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about human rights in Burundi”Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Durham speaks in favour of greater protection for children and vulnerable groups
On 2nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in the second day of the report stage. The Bishop of Durham spoke on several amendments to the bill, including:
- Amendment 35, which would prevent offshoring of asylum seekers
- Amendments 40-45, moved by the Bishop of Durham on behalf of the Bishop of Gloucester, which relate to the standard of proof applied to vulnerable people seeking asylum
- Amendments 48 & 49, which would promote more safe routes for asylum seekers and targets for resettlement
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, in rising to support Amendment 35 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope, to which I have added my name, I declare my interests in relation to both RAMP and Reset and set out in the register. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stroud, for the way she introduced this amendment, and I fully support all her points.
I set out my reasons for supporting this amendment in Committee. However, a significant concern for me now is that the Minister was not able to give assurance that children in families would be excluded from offshoring, nor that families would not be split up in the process. This is deeply concerning. I appreciate that the policy document of 25 February sets out that exemptions will depend on the country where people are being offshored and tat publicising exemptions will fuel the movement of the most vulnerable not subject to offshoring.
However, I would set out that, for children, onward movement to any country after an often traumatic journey to the UK, in addition to the trauma in their country of origin, is simply never in their best interests. All the concerns I set out in my Committee speech regarding the monitoring of the practice of offshoring processing centres are especially true for children.
Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill: Bishop of Durham speaks in favour of greater protection for children and vulnerable groups”
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