Yesterday peers from across the Lords raised the unfair and undemocratic place of the bishops in the House of Lords at the second reading of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.
Currently 26 bishops of the Church of England sit, as of right, in the House of Lords. Although the bill being discussed was focused on removing the hereditary peers from the Lords it was clear that many in the House – including members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) – wanted the bishops to join them.
Crossbench APPHG peer Lord Birt described the bishops as a ‘feudal overhang’ and remarked that the Church of England is ‘not even a church for the whole of the United Kingdom’. He said the Church is ‘losing moral authority’.
Labour peers Lord Foulkes and Lord Rooker, both APPHG members, said that ‘we need to consider whether it is right that members from one Church… should have an automatic right to membership of this Chamber’ and ‘I would vote to remove the cleric from lawmaking’ respectively.
Meanwhile Labour APPHG peer Baroness Lister pointed out the next stage of reform should ‘include the position of the bishops’ and that it is a ‘question of principle’.
Others in the House made it clear that removal of the bishops was widely supported in the Lords as Conservative peer Lord Mancroft said ‘it seems to me that overwhelming support is moving in that direction.’
With a wide range of MPs and peers from multiple parties supporting their removal from the Lords, as well as the majority of the British public and many Church of England clergy behind this reform, Humanists UK hopes the government takes action on this vital issue.
Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson said:
‘Yet again peers from across the House have called for the removal of the bishops from the House of Lords. This is an unfair and undemocratic arrangement at the centre of what should be a modern 21st-century democracy. No seats should be given as of right to one religion or belief. We hope that the Government sees the widespread support both in Parliament, and from the public, to remove this unfair privilege.’
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson at press@humanists.uk or phone 0203 675 0959.
Read the debate transcript on Hansard.
Read more about our work on bishops in the Lords.
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