On 12th July 2023, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. Votes were held on these amendments, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
Tag: manchester
Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables motion to maintain safeguards for unaccompanied children
On 12th July 2023, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of motion A1, moved by Baroness Chakrabarti, to insert a new clause into the bill which would stipulate that the UK must abide by international obligations, and in support of his motion U1, which would propose that removal of putative children should be delayed until judicial review of disputed age assessments had been completed:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I support Motion A1 but will speak more particularly to Motion U1 in my name, to which the noble Baroness just referred. It proposes that if an age-assessment judicial review is in progress, removal should be delayed until its completion. I welcome comments from Ministers that those subject to an age dispute will be accommodated in an age-appropriate setting here in the UK, but can the Minister confirm that will be the case in a third country? Will Rwanda, for example, be informed that a young person is subject to an age dispute, and will the Rwandan Government then be required by the UK to keep that person separate from other adult residents and to supervise them properly as a child until the courts have made a judgment?
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables motion to maintain safeguards for unaccompanied children”Votes: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
On 11th July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the first day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Manchester voices support for collaborative production of the bill
On 6th July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Online Safety Bill in the first day of the report stage. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in favour of a government amendment to the bill introducing a new introductory clause setting out the purpose and duties of the act, and voiced his support for the collaborative way in which the bill had been produced:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I too support the Minister’s Amendment 1. I remember vividly, at the end of Second Reading, the commitments that we heard from both Front-Benchers to work together on this Bill to produce something that was collaborative, not contested. I and my friends on these Benches have been very touched by how that has worked out in practice and grateful for the way in which we have collaborated across the whole House. My plea is that we can use this way of working on other Bills in the future. This has been exemplary and I am very grateful that we have reached this point.
Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendment preventing removal of LGBT+ people to countries where they might face persecution
The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendment 37 to the Illegal Migration Bill, tabled by Lord Etherton, on 28th June 2023. The amendment would prevent the removal of LGBT people to third countries where they might be persecuted:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, we cannot countenance a situation in which people who sought asylum here because of a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin are then removed to a third country where they may face a similar, or even greater, level of risk. For that reason, I join others in supporting Amendment 37.
It was my privilege earlier this year to be invited to attend a reception on the Parliamentary Estate, where I met a group of LGBTQI+ women who had sought and gained asylum in this country. Their stories were harrowing. By contrast, their efforts to rebuild their lives here in Britain were inspirational.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendment preventing removal of LGBT+ people to countries where they might face persecution”Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of protections for victims of trafficking
During a debate on amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill on 28th June 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendment 12, tabled by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, which would stipulate that “potential and recognised victims of trafficking will not be detained or removed before they get the opportunity to submit an application to the NRM and have it duly considered.”
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, traffickers exercise control over their victims by convincing them that they will not receive help from the authorities if they seek it. The Bill will simply add credence to that claim.
I fully sympathise with the desire to deter people from using our modern slavery laws as a means to make a spurious claim for protection, but where is the evidence? The Government cannot point at any evidence of widespread abuse of our modern slavery system, yet they propose to remove basic protections for some of the most vulnerable people in our country. It is a basic principle of law—I can find it for you in the Book of Genesis if you want—that, in our desire to convict the guilty, we should not end up punishing the innocent. Amendment 12 is the very least we need in order to protect that vital principle.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of protections for victims of trafficking”Votes: Illegal Migration Bill
On 28th June 2023, the House of Lords debated the Illegal Migration Bill in the first day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
On 27th June 2023, the House of Lords debated the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in the second day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
On 8th June the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Votes were held on further amendments to the bill, in which a bishop took part:
Bishop of Manchester asks for clarification on issues relating to the ministerial code
The Bishop of Manchester asked for clarification on the issue of justice being seen to be done regarding breaches of the ministerial code, on 25th May 2023. This was in response to a government statement on how breaches of the code are managed, and a question in the House of Lords on the need for independent investigatory processes following an incident involving a potential breach of the code by the Home Secretary:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am struggling here. It seems to be a basic principle that justice should not only be done but seen to be done. These processes seem so arcane and opaque that I wonder whether the noble Baroness can assure us how this process passes that test—or does it not apply to the Ministerial Code?
Continue reading “Bishop of Manchester asks for clarification on issues relating to the ministerial code”
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