On 18th March 2025, the Bishop of Gloucester tabled a question on the durability of the ceasefire in Gaza, condemning the recent airstrikes on Gaza and raising the possibility of targeted sanctions against the Israeli government:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the durability of the ceasefire in Gaza.
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The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 14th March 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the peace and reconstruction plan for Gaza that was endorsed by the Arab League summit on 4 March.
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The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on publication of BBC translation guidelines on 4th March 2025, during a discussion on recent coverage on Gaza:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I understand that one of the particular worries was to do with the way certain phrases were translated, and therefore may have unwittingly biased people or been misleading. Will the BBC publish the principles and guidelines that are used for translation in these difficult situations?
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The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the issue of supplying aid and medical supplies to hospitals in Gaza on 10th February 2025, following a repeat of a Commons Statement on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: Reports coming out of the country show the desperate need to get not only aid but medical supplies there. I pay tribute to His Majesty’s Government for all that they have done so far, but the issue is how we get aid and medical supplies in. In particular, reports are coming out that the Anglican-run al-Ahli Hospital is in a desperate state. What else can His Majesty’s Government do to ensure that we get medicine and supplies in there and to other medical facilities?
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The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on support for hospital services in Gaza on 22nd January 2025, during a discussion on the recent ceasefire in the conflict:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I declare my interest as chair of the United Society Partners in the Gospel, one of the oldest Anglican global mission agencies. One of our key partners is the al-Ahli hospital in northern Gaza, a hospital that the people of that area rely on pretty well entirely now for any healthcare they can get. Most of the hospital has been destroyed—both the library and the historic church are now in use as wards. What assurances can the Minister give us about how we can get aid into the hospital, so that the people of northern Gaza, no matter how long the ceasefire lasts —I hope it will become permanent, but for the time being—will be able to get the medical help they need? Over 1,000 emergency patients are being admitted every day.
Continue reading “Bishop of Manchester asks about hospital services in Gaza”The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on efforts to deliver medical supplies to the Al-Ali Hospital in Gaza on 8th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, three days before Hamas’s horrendous attacks on Israel I was in Gaza visiting the Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital. That hospital was struck again on 29 December by an Israeli artillery shell—the fifth strike it has had. Earlier this afternoon, I asked the archbishop in Jerusalem for an update and he provided me with a list of things that are urgently needed by his medical director at that hospital. They include antibiotics, anaesthesia drugs, sterile gloves, plaster of Paris, surgical knives, abdominal swabs and much more. All of that is in a container that has been in Amman for two months, held up because the Israeli Government will not allow it in. What might His Majesty’s Government do to try to enable that medical equipment to get to the Al-Ahli Hospital urgently?
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about supply of medical items to Al-Ali Hospital in Gaza”On 28th November 2024, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha De Cordova MP, gave the following answers to questions from MPs in the House of Commons:
The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on ensuring provision of supplies to Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital on 16th October 2024, following a government statement on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, just over a year ago I was in Gaza, three days before Hamas’s evil attacks, visiting the Anglican-run al-Ahli hospital. Today that hospital is the only functioning hospital in northern Gaza, but it is weeks since it has been supplied. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to ensure that healthcare supplies are getting into Gaza and in particular that al-Ahli hospital, which is doing the incredible work of healing, is supplied?
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about provision of healthcare supplies into Gaza”During a discussion on the conflict in Israel and Gaza on 3rd September 2024, the Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on growing settler violence in the West Bank and Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the recent attack on and dispossession of a Palestinian Christian family
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for holding together the trauma of the Israeli hostages and their families and communities, and that of the families and communities of Gaza.
I am very concerned that, as has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, we do not lose sight of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank. I had the painful privilege of visiting there very recently and I was deeply perturbed, not least by the growing settler activity and, as has been said, the illegal settler outposts, including the abhorrent attack and subsequent dispossession of the Kissieh family of Palestinian Christians near Bethlehem. Will the Government take action on this as well as on the issue of arms licences?
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about settler violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories”On 23rd May 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following answers to questions from MPs in the House of Commons:
Affordable and Sustainable Housing
Selaine Saxby MP (Con, North Devon) asked: Whether the Church of England is taking steps to provide affordable and sustainable housing on its land. (902965)
Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): I can tell my hon. Friend that the Church Commissioners are bringing forward substantial new amounts of housing across England, including affordable homes, in accordance with local planning policy in the areas concerned. Where the commissioners are able to, we also seek to go further— for example, through the use of rural exception sites to provide a higher proportion of affordable housing than the local plan requires.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Questions: Affordable & Sustainable Housing, Diocesan Support: Interregnums, Educational Attainment: Church Schools, Parish Churches: Funding, Academy Schools, and Support for People in Gaza”
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