St Albans – Page 63 – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of St Albans speaks in debate on security challenges and China

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on security challenges relating to China, on 14th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I have spoken on numerous occasions about the ongoing tragedy in Xinjiang province. I have also spoken on various occasions about the worrying issues of surveillance and hacking of businesses and individuals in this country. It is very helpful to hear other noble Lords picking up on some of them. However, in the very limited time I have, I want to make a few comments building on some of those made by the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, about China’s relationship with the Commonwealth. In particular, I want to focus on the soft power which maintains strong international bonds, bolsters our influence in the world and commends our western culture, rooted in an understanding which draws on Christian tradition.

Bishop of St Albans asks questions about support for those facing cost of fire safety remedial work

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer to four questions on 14th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: asked Her Majesty’s Government:

what plans they have to provide low-interest long term loans to non-qualifying buy-to-lent landlords with more than two leasehold properties who are unable to afford fire safety remedial costs.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with two or more leasehold properties who will go bankrupt due to being unable to afford fire safety remedial work.

what assessment they have made of the number of non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

what assistance they plan to provide to non-qualifying buy-to-let landlords with more than two leasehold properties who (1) are unable to sell their properties, and (2) are unable to afford the fire safety remedial work.

Bishop of St Albans asks about strengthening overseas volunteering

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question regarding international development and volunteering on 12th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, over the next few days more than a 1,000 overseas Anglican bishops will be arriving here for the Lambeth Conference. There are hundreds of links of volunteers going to many of the areas of the world which we are deeply concerned about, including parts of the Horn of Africa where there is famine and locusts have had a devastating impact. People are coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Ebola is such a problem; these are people who are working on the ground. We already have many volunteer programmes of medics and others going in and out. Does the FCDO intend to meet some of those people who are coming here to see how we can strengthen other forms of volunteering, as well as some of the government schemes we have had in the past?

Bishop of St Albans asks about Platinum Jubilee medal recipients

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 12th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to include active members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry with five years of service to the list of groups awarded the commemorative Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Bishop of St Albans asks a question on gambling

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the NERA report Economic Assessment of Selected House of Lords Gambling Reforms, published 26 May 2021; and what assessment they have made of how gambling reform could help to level up disadvantaged communities.

Bishop of St Albans asks about food shortages in East Africa

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer to two questions on 11th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government:

further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 23 June (HL835), what assessment they have made of the severity of the food shortages in East Africa; and what plans they have to provide additional UK emergency aid to assist in alleviating famine conditions in that region.
further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 23 June (HL835) and recent findings from Christian Aid which found that only 23 per cent of the British public are aware of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, what plans they have to increase public awareness of the ongoing famine in East Africa.

Bishop of St Albans asks a question on teaching British values in schools

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to ensure that the teaching of British values in schools respects protected characteristics, freedom of speech, and the freedom of conscience.

Baroness Barran (Con): All schools must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broad, and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of later life. The department expects all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance.

Bishop of St Albans asks about any potential audits of UK assets held by Chinese Hong Kong Officials linked to human rights violations

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to carry out an audit of UK assets held by Chinese Hong Kong officials who are linked to human rights violations.

Bishop of St Albans speaks in a debate on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases

On 7th July 2022, the House of Lords debated the question of global control of malaria and neglected tropical diseases. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Trees, for obtaining this important debate on a subject that really needs to be before your Lordships’ House more frequently and deserves a much higher profile. This is a topic of some interest to me because one of my colleagues, the Bishop of Hertford—last week, he became the Bishop of Bath and Wells—is a professional epidemiologist. I hope that he will be in this House in a few years, because he has spent a lot of his time—even though he has been a bishop—in Africa working on a variety of things such as malaria and Ebola. Thanks to him, I have become increasingly aware of just how important this area is and, as we come out of Covid, how vital it is that we grow human capital in these regions.

It was said to me that rather than calling them “neglected tropical diseases” it would be more apt to call them “tropical diseases of neglected peoples”, given the global economic status of their victims. While I am conscious that malaria is specifically referenced in this debate and that NTDs include a host of serious bacterial and viral infections, I want to focus my brief comments on the parasitical infections within the NTD umbrella, as these are really diseases of poverty. Parasitical infections such as worms are in many cases caught because of the social context in which people are living—poor sanitary conditions, lack of clean water and the inability to store or consume food safely. It is therefore no surprise that deworming programmes are a huge part of the global effort to combat NTDs.

Bishop of St Albans calls for action on sewage disposal in rivers and coastal waters

On 7th July 2022, the House of Lords debated a motion put forward by Lord Oates on Sewage Disposal in Rivers and Coastal Waters. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in the debate – the Bishop’s speech is below along with contributions by other peers:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Oates, for achieving this important debate. Many of the horrifying facts and statistics have been laid out with great clarity before your Lordships’ House.

I live in the city of St Albans, which is built next to the ancient Roman city of Verulamium. We have a 17-mile chalk stream which runs through the city called the River Ver, based on its Roman name; it flows eventually into the River Colne. We have a thriving local group of activists, the Ver Valley Society, which was set up and continues to work with great vigour to protect this really important chalk stream—it is really a stream rather than a river.

In 2021, the sewage treatment works at the top of the river spilled for 2,646 hours—just over 100 hundred days, so nearly a third of the year. Not only was that appallingly bad for this unique ecosystem—chalk streams and chalk rivers are mainly found here in this country—it was also bad because of the residual nitrate in the aquifer and it has led to a very poor state of the chalk stream. Insects at the bottom of the food chain are not as plentiful as they once were. Likewise, aquatic plant life is also suffering. It is unacceptable for this lovely, delightful small river, that many of us walk along regularly for leisure, that goes through our park, to be treated so badly.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: