Tag: manchester

Bishop of Manchester raises potential issues around seal of the confessional in abuse disclosures

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in response to a government statement on tackling child sexual abuse on 22nd April 2025, outlining the Church of England’s response to the issue and the conversation around the seal of the confessional:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to have this short session this evening. I also gave evidence at IICSA in person: I was an expert witness on Anglican religious communities, because that was one of the guises in which Bishop Peter Ball had justified his abuse.

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Renters Rights Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables amendment on tied accommodation for clergy

On 22nd April 2025, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of his amendment to the Renters Rights Bill at the first day of committee, on the safeguarding of tied accommodation for clergy:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, Amendment 62 in this group, in my name and that of the noble Earl, Lord Leicester, is also about a particular form of occupational housing. I need to declare an interest: I own one small apartment in the West Midlands which has been let out to a tenant for a long time, but, according to some of the media, that makes me a kind of Rachmanite landlord who is trying to destroy the Bill. I can assure your Lordships that that is the last thing I have in mind.

This is about people who live in tied accommodation. As a Church of England bishop, I live in what I suppose we should call a tied palace rather than a tied cottage, but it is accommodation that I inhabit only for as long as I exercise my current office. That is the situation for the vast majority of stipendiary Church of England clergy, many other ministers of religion, and also for farm workers and estate workers who are required, for the better performance of their duties, to live where they actually work. It is a category that is accepted by HMRC, in terms of taxation legislation, as a special form of tenure. A large proportion of those who live in tied accommodation do not have the capacity during their working lives to save up and be able to provide for themselves in retirement, when they eventually have to move out of their tied dwelling.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about freedom of expression and right to protest

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answers on 22nd April 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the police raid on a Quaker meeting house on 27 March for religious and democratic freedoms.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about situation in the West Bank

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the situation in the West Bank on 24th March 2025, following a government statement on the conflict in Gaza:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: I am very grateful for the Statement that was brought to this House today. From these Benches, I echo the comments that noble Lords have made about the fact that Hamas must have no part in any future government of the Palestinian territories or any future Palestinian state. Every time the situation in Gaza has become more warlike, under the fog of that war there have been atrocities committed in the West Bank. Some of the more extreme settler movements are trying to oust Palestinian farming families from territories that everybody accepts are theirs by right. What can His Majesty’s Government do to ensure that we do not lose sight of the West Bank at this time when, quite rightly, there is a proper focus on Gaza?

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Bishop of Manchester asks about sustainable farming and food security

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the effects of the government’s sustainable farming initiative on food security on 18th March 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I do not know whether I have an interest to declare. I am not a farmer but the Church Commissioners, who pay my stipend and working costs, are one of the largest landowners of tenanted farms in the UK, so I declare that.

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Votes: Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill

On 18th March 2025, the House of Lords debated the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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Universal Credit (Standard Allowance Entitlement of Care Leavers) Bill: Bishop of Manchester passes private members bill in the Lords

On 14th March 2025, the Bishop of Manchester’s private member’s bill, the Universal Credit (Standard Allowance Entitlement of Care Leavers) Bill, had its third reading and passed through the House of Lords:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, as this will be my last opportunity to address your Lordships’ House on this Bill, I crave your indulgence for a couple of minutes. There are something like 92,000 care leavers in the 18 to 25 age bracket at any one time. While it is hard to be precise about how much this Bill would cost, the best estimate is that it would probably add something like £25 million a year to the total costs on the Government. That would enable a young care leaver who is in receipt of universal credit to get an extra £80 a month, which is 25% more than they currently get. It would be life-changing for them. It would make, I would argue, very little difference to the state of the nation’s finances.

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Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks to amendments

The Bishop of Manchester spoke during a debate on amendments to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, expressing concern over the potential effects on churches and other places of worship, and the effects on voluntary commitments:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am grateful that we are debating the amendments in this group. I declare my interest, having lots of churches in Manchester that fall under the terms of the Bill.

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Bishop of Manchester raises need to challenge contemporary antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia during Holocaust Memorial Day debate

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate marking Holocaust Memorial Day on 13th February 2025, raising experiences from his own diocese and the need to challenge contemporary antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I will begin by paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Austin of Dudley, who sadly is not able to be in his place today. As the noble Baroness, Lady Ramsey of Wall Heath, reminded us just a few minutes ago in her excellent speech, Ian is the son of a Holocaust survivor. It was he who helped me understand the significance of this day, long before either he or myself were Members of your Lordships’ House.

Unlike my present diocese of Manchester, Dudley, where I was then the bishop and the noble Lord, Lord Austin, was an MP, did not have a very large Jewish population. Nevertheless, at his instigation, every year we sent two young people from Dudley College of Technology to Auschwitz. They reported back to our annual Holocaust Memorial Day event that was held in the college, where they told very moving stories of what they had seen and how it had made them feel. Their witness, alongside the testimony of Holocaust survivors, helped inspire young people who were born almost half a century after the Holocaust to understand why we today must be constantly on the vigil against those voices that seek to deny the common and equal humanity and dignity of every single human being. Those who denigrate, despise and ultimately seek to destroy those whom I, as a Christian, will always declare as being created in the very image of God.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about net zero targets and biomass capture

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the impact of new oil projects on net zero targets, and a question on the viability of carbon capture and storage, on 12th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: Perhaps I might make it a bit wider, to avoid putting the Minister in a difficult situation. We have heard that there are a number of projects that have previously been approved to a certain stage and—at the risk of a pun—are in the pipeline. Have the Government made any estimate of the impact that schemes in this sort of pipeline will have on the UK being able to meet its net-zero targets?

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