The Bishop of Leeds asked a question regarding urgent applications from Ukrainian refugees on 9th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I heard yesterday that one of the refugee application centres in Poland has no available appointments until the end of April—the end of next month. This seems to be a bureaucratic answer to a humanitarian question. I received an email last night asking, “Is the UK Government ill prepared, incompetent or unwilling?”—and I do not know how to answer it.
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.
The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about problems with admissions during a debate on Ukrainian refugees on 8th March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, the Government have rightly praised the generosity of the people of the United Kingdom, but there seems to be a systemic problem in allowing that generosity to be exercised. Can the Minister say something about the systemic issues and address an associated matter: how can we guarantee that the information we are given is accurate, given what has happened in Calais, for example? We keep hearing from the Government that we are leading the way, but we are patently not.
The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about plans for disposal of lithium ion batteries as more of them come to be used in e-bikes and scooters, during a debate on safety standards on 3rd March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, however these things are regulated, we are building up a massive resource of batteries that one day will have to be disposed of, with the environmental risks that they bring as well. What assessment have the Government made of how in the long term we will deal with what could before too long become a problem?
The Bishop of Leeds asked a question regarding the government’s assessment of the role of religion in the conflict in Ukraine, following a statement giving an update on the conflict on 2nd March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I very much appreciate what the Government are doing and the Statement that was given. One of the elements that is lacking from it, however, is any reference to religion. One cannot understand the politics of Russia or Ukraine without understanding the history of the past 1,200 years, what is intended to be part of the reunification of the original Rus—I speak as a Russian linguist and former Soviet specialist at GCHQ. If we do not understand the role of religion, we are in danger of short-term, reactive, tactical activities in relation to the current conflict, whereas the Russians, certainly, have been running a long-term strategy under Putin, in which he has been extremely successful thus far. What role is religion playing in the Government’s assessment of how to care for refugees, which we have talked about, and in establishing back channels with the Moscow patriarchate and the Ukrainian patriarchate?
On 2nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Nationality and Borders Bill in its second day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part.
On 9th February 2022, the House of Lords debated the Dissolution and Calling of Parliaments Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the Bill, in which a bishop took part.
The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on the funding given to Welsh authorities to deal with the remediation and repair of coal tips in the country on 19th January 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, the Minister has referred a couple of times to the funding to the Welsh authorities as “adequate”. Can he enlighten us as to how adequacy is defined?
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con): I will define what I see as being adequate. The Welsh Government have more than enough to deal with the very important subject of coal-tip safety.
On 17th January 2022, during a debate on the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill, the Bishop of Leeds spoke in support of amendments to relating to the definition of “significant” disruption caused by protests:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I have a number of problems with this part of the Bill that are to do with form and content. The fact that these amendments were brought in at the stage they were seems an abuse of parliamentary scrutiny. Some of the debates we are having could have been sorted out had they been addressed in the normal way. That fits into a pattern of intimations about breaking the rule of law and the authoritarian complexion of the way in which some things are being done in, through or around Parliament. That is my problem with form.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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