Winchester – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of Winchester asks about role of freedom of religion in migration

The Bishop of Winchester asked a question about the role of denial of freedom of religion as a driver of migration on 25th November 2025, in response to a government statement on changes to the migration settlement pathway :

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, I will keep my question brief because I want to give time to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. One of the most encouraging developments in foreign policy in this country in recent years has been the growing recognition of the evil of the denial of freedom of religion or belief across the world, leading to widespread persecution of faith communities, Christians not least among them, as we have tragically seen in these last days in Nigeria. The UK has become a recognised global leader in advocacy for this oft-overlooked right.

Does the Minister accept that denial of freedom of religion or belief is a significant driver of migration? It is certainly so in the case of a significant number who arrive illegally, who, according to the Statement,

“could see settlement take up to 30 years”.

Bishop of Winchester asks about religious freedom in India

The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 17th November 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of India regarding freedom of religion or belief in that country, and what other steps they are taking to support freedom of religion or belief there.

Bishop of Winchester asks about importance of religious literacy for young people

The Bishop of Winchester asked a question on the role of religious literacy in promoting freedom of religion and belief on 30th October 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, I was pleased to hear the Second Church Estates Commissioner confirm recently in another place that the Government are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Truro review, which I wrote several years ago at the invitation of the then Foreign Secretary. I have to say that that came as a pleasant surprise to me. In view of the significant and egregious growth in international violations of freedom of religion or belief in the intervening years, does the Minister agree with me that we need to ensure a high level of religious literacy among our young people and that professionally delivered RE is critical to that end?

Bishop of Winchester asks about access to youth mobility schemes

The Bishop of Winchester asked a question on encouraging participation in youth mobility schemes for UK students and young people on 29th October 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: I am very grateful to the Minister for her Answer. For understandable reasons, His Majesty’s Government are very concerned at the moment to prevent people crossing the channel in one direction. However, it seems to me that we should be positively encouraging our young people to cross the channel in the other direction to take advantage of the very real opportunities a youth mobility scheme would offer, not simply for their own sake—although that is really important, as we have heard—but because, in an increasingly fractious and dangerous world, we sorely need young people with a broad, informed international perspective. Can the Minister confirm that—as well as, I hope, allowing such mobility—the Government will actually encourage such participation?

Bishop of Winchester asks about freedom of religion provisions in trade agreements

The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 23rd October 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure human rights provisions on freedom of religion or belief have been included in the Free Trade Agreement with India.

Bishop of Winchester asks about EU Agreement with Rwanda on natural resources

The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 22nd April 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with the European Union about the Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains that the EU signed with the government of Rwanda on 19 February 2024.

Bishop of Leeds, Bishop of St Albans, and Bishop of Winchester ask about conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Bishop of Leeds, the Bishop of St Albans, and the Bishop of Winchester received the following written answers on 12th April 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds asked His Majesty’s Government:

what military support they are providing to the government of Rwanda for (1) training, (2) technology, (3) tactics, and (4) weapons licensing, and whether they have reviewed these arrangements following the support by the government of Rwanda for M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
what financial support, debt relief and development assistance they are providing to Rwanda, and what steps they will take to review these arrangements as a result of the support by the government of Rwanda for M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Bishop of Winchester asks about aid to internally displaced populations in Nigeria

The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 12th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked His Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure that aid distributed to displaced people in Nigeria reaches those displaced by violence in central states committed by armed non-state actors.

Bishop of Winchester asks about persecution of Christians in Nigeria

The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 6th January 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to provide aid to Christian communities in Nigeria facing persecution and violence.

Bishop of Winchester speaks in debate on human rights in China

The Bishop of Winchester spoke in a debate on human rights in China on 19th December 2024, empathising the importance of a religiously and culturally informed approach towards China:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: I am very grateful to my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, for securing this vital and urgent debate. I congratulate him on his election as chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. There is no one better qualified to fulfil that role.

If we are to understand China from the perspective of human rights, security or trade, or indeed from any other perspective, we must see the country in its own terms and as it sees itself rather than simply through western lenses. To understand China as she understands herself, it will not do to look at her in terms of Marxism or indeed Maoism. If once it was said of the Labour Party that it was more Methodist than Marxist, it can be fairly said of the Chinese Communist Party that it is at least as Confucianist as it is communist. At the heart of China’s concept of itself lies the concept of tianxia, a word that means “all under heaven”—and that I almost certainly mispronounce. Even in those three words, you can grasp a sense of its import. It is an ancient concept, dating at least to the start of the first millennium BC, describing a system of relations across Asia, with China as the centre of the civilised world and the apex of culture, the heart of a sage empire, spreading material benefits and wisdom to all mankind—a geopolitical system with China at the centre and the Emperor at the centre of the centre.

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