Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg announced today that the Government will abandon its plans for reform of the House of Lords. The British Humanist Association (BHA) is disappointed at this decision, because we hoped that Lords Reform would provide an opportunity for removing the right of Bishops to reserved seats in Parliament. However, we were critical of the Government’s plans, because they included retaining the Bishops, and launched our Holy Redundant campaign, which called for the removal of the Bishops from Parliament. We called on our supporters to e-mail their MPs and Nick Clegg to urge them to support the removal of the Bishops, and thousands responded.
The e-mails certainly ensured our voice was heard. Mark Harper MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Cabinet Office, revealed on 23 May that of all the letters received by the Government on Lords Reform, the majority had concerned the Bishops. The Government’s intention of retaining the Bishops was also heavily criticised during Parliamentary debate in July, with one in every five speakers referring to ending the role of the Lords Spiritual in a reformed House. Within hours of the Bill’s introduction, amendments to remove the Bishops had been tabled by Chris Bryant MP (Rhondda). Sadly, with reform of the House of Lords now abandoned, Parliament will no longer be voting on these amendments.
Pavan Dhaliwal, BHA Head of Public Affairs, commented, ‘We were critical of the Government’s plans for reform of the House of Lords because they included retaining the Bishops. However, our campaigning pushed the role of the Bishops onto the political agenda, raising hopes that the Government’s plan for reform could be changed and more recently, we supported amendments which would have led to the removal of the Bishops.
‘Now that Lords reform has been taken off the agenda, we are disappointed that this opportunity has passed. However, we will continue to argue against the presence of Bishops in Parliament, which is an unfair form of religious privilege which should have no place in a democratic society.’
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For further comment or information contact Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs at pavan@humanists.uk or on 020 7079 3585.
BBC News report on Nick Clegg’s announcement: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19149212
Visit the Holy Redundant website: http://holyredundant.org.uk/
Read the amendments to the House of Lords Reform Bill tabled by Chris Bryant MP: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2012-2013/0052/amend/pbc0521007a.1-7.html
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.