Tag: Southwark

King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Southwark speaks on global conflict and foreign affairs

The Bishop of Southwark spoke in the Kings Speech debate on the topic of global conflict on 15th November 2023, calling for better resources for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, the gracious Speech set out a number of the key challenges impinging on our security and His Majesty’s Government’s intentions in addressing them. I shall focus to some degree on the fragility of the international order at present.

I suspect that many of us have an underlying anxiety about the future in terms of the potential for conflict and our ability to either forestall or manage it should it arise. However, in the perspective of much of the world we already live in an era of endemic warfare. By one count, there are 110 international or internal armed conflicts under way as I speak. Only North America is free of any armed clash, and even there the United States is facing historic challenges to its democratic norms.

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Bishop of Southwark asks about shooting of Palestinian Ameed al-Jaghoub by Israeli security forces

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel in relation to the use of force in the death of Mr Ameed al-Jaghoub on 21 August.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con, Foreign Office): Our sympathies are with Ameed al-Jaghoub and his family. While we have not discussed this specific incident with the Israeli Government, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza is too high.

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Bishop of Southwark asks about properties owned by foreign shell companies

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 21st September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to identify the beneficial ownership of 100,000 properties held by foreign shell companies on behalf of others as disclosed by the report published on 4 September by the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Warwick and the Centre for Public Data.

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Bishop of Southwark asks about housing supply in London

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 21st September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support London Councils who have reported a 120 per cent rise in requests by landlords for return of properties used as temporary homes and a 41 per cent reduction in the number of properties available for private rental since 2020.

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Bishop of Southwark asks about recent report on poverty levels

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 14th September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Poverty Strategy Commission’s interim report A New Framework for Tackling Poverty, published on 5 September, and in particular the recommendations that a net rise in benefit awards by 5 per cent would reduce numbers in poverty by 725,000 and a net rise in earnings wound reduce poverty by 515,000.

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Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Bishop of Southwark supports amendments on housing

On 6th September 2023, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the sixth day of the report stage. The Bishop of Southwark spoke in support of amendment 201, which would require the government to update the definition of affordable housing, recalling the Archbishop of Canterbury’s 2021 debate on housing and stressing the need for a bipartisan approach to ensure consistent housebuilding policy over time:

My Lords, the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman and Lady Bennett, and the noble Lord, Lord Stunell, have all spoken eloquently on Amendment 201, which I support. I thank them for tabling it.

The independent Archbishops’ Commission on Housing reported in March 2021, and your Lordships’ House may recall the debate that the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury secured on 24 March 2021, on the subject of housing. I simply wish to highlight a few points from that which I believe are relevant to the debate on this amendment.

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Votes: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

On 6th September 2023, the House of Lords debated the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Bishop of Southwark supports amendment on health and wellbeing

On 4th September 2023, the House of Lords debated the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the fifth day of the report stage. The Bishop of Southwark spoke in the debate, in support of an amendment in the name of the Bishop of London and other peers which would introduce a duty to reduce health inequalities and improve well-being into the bill:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, I also rise to speak to Amendment 198 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, whom it is an honour to follow this evening, the noble Lord, Lord Foster of Bath, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London, who sends her apologies that she cannot be here to take part in this debate.

The urgent need to address declining health in the United Kingdom, as well as the widening health inequalities associated with this, cannot be overstated. We have heard many times about the staggering difference in healthy life expectancy, which was already up to 19 years before the pandemic. We must not become numb to such statistics or the reality that underlies them. Amendment 198 is about using the opportunity that this Bill provides to reform the planning system and thereby enable practical action by local authorities to tackle these disparities.

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Votes: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

On 4th September 2023, the House of Lords debated the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Bishop of Southwark asks about support for those suffering with dementia

The Bishop of Southwark asked a question on improving support for those suffering with dementia on 4th September 2023, following a question on the Alzheimer’s Society report Improving access to a timely and accurate diagnosis in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his answers on the diagnosis of dementia. Will he also outline what is being done to measurably improve the structures of support for those diagnosed with dementia, not least in the early stages, given the increasing social isolation that sufferers experience and the onerous costs they must often bear? This is increasingly evident in our parishes, in our wider communities, in the experience of clergy up and down the land and in my own diocese of Southwark.

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