Results 1-15 of 15 for speaker:the Archbishop of Canterbury

Children: Good Childhood Inquiry Report — Debate (12 Feb 2009)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I am very happy to declare an interest both as vice-president of the Children's Society and as patron of this inquiry. I am delighted that my right reverend brother has secured this debate. The report paints a very sobering picture of a society that has become clumsy and neglectful in the priority it gives to the central task of civilised humanity: the task of inducting children...

Families: Economic Inequality (25 Apr 2008)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I am grateful for the quality of today's debate, and particularly grateful that noble Lords have of their charity forborne to point out one embarrassingly obvious error in my opening remarks, which I identified when consulting my notes. I referred to the percentage offered by payday lenders—cash down in return for a cheque—as 7 to 8 per cent rather than 70 to 80 per...

Families: Economic Inequality (25 Apr 2008)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: rose to call attention to the impact on the family of economic inequality, credit and indebtedness; and to move for Papers. My Lords, I declare an interest as president of the Children's Society, the Church Urban Fund and the Family Welfare Association and as vice-president of Barnardo's. Thanks to the discussions so ably initiated by the noble Earl, your Lordships will need no reminding from...

Young Offenders: Review of Restraint (6 Feb 2008)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I take it that the Minister would agree that it is quite indefensible that different standards should prevail in our national criteria to do with the care and protection of children and in the criminal justice system. I invite him also to agree that that means that the use of strip-searching and segregation in the criminal justice system for children is something that needs a very...

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL] (15 Jan 2008)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I begin by apologising to the House for the fact that I am obliged to leave the Chamber before five o'clock this afternoon. I want just to echo some of the anxieties that have been raised in the past few minutes. I share entirely the unease of the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, about the phrase, "the human end of the spectrum", which seems to introduce a very unhelpful element of...

Gambling (Geographical Distribution of Casino Premises Licences) Order 2007 (28 Mar 2007)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I have listened very carefully to the remarks made by the Minister and others about the procedural gravity of the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones; but I feel the need to speak to the reasons that have made me deeply sympathetic to that amendment and to the concerns underlying it. They are both particular and general. The particular reasons have already been detailed...

Churches and Cities (19 May 2006)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I am enormously grateful for the quality of the debate. As the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, has just reminded us, challenges have come not only from but to the Church. I hope that your Lordships will allow me to respond to one or two of the challenges which have arisen, and to speak a little about how we go forward from there. The observation of the noble Baroness, Lady Flather, on...

Churches and Cities (19 May 2006)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: rose to call attention to the role of the Churches in the civic life of towns and cities, the Churches' partnership with other bodies and the part they play in addressing the problems of deprivation; and to move for Papers. My Lords, urban regeneration is very clearly on the public agenda. Over some 15 years we have seen a series of major initiatives directed both at the physical...

Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [HL] (12 May 2006)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, opposition to the principle of this Bill is not confined to people of religious conviction—as we have been reminded by the noble, monotheistic and utilitarian Lord, Lord Carlile—and it would be a lazy counter-argument to suggest that such opposition can be written off because it comes only from those committed to a world view not universally shared. It is worth...

Immigration: Detention Centres (15 Feb 2006)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, is the Minister aware that chaplaincy arrangements in such detention centres are, despite the best efforts of many dedicated individuals, all too often profoundly inadequate, being done under the auspices of the curiously named "managers of religious affairs"? Does the Minister agree that a lack of proper professional and pastoral support for those who are made vulnerable in this...

United Nations Reform, and Conflict in Africa (2 Feb 2005)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I, too, welcome the opportunity that the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, has given the House of debating this admirable and timely document. I must declare an interest of sorts as chair of the panel of advice to the Anglican Communion Observer at the United Nations. I wish to begin in another place. I suspect that I am not the only Member of the House to have been deeply moved and...

Sentencing (26 Mar 2004)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I have listened with the deepest appreciation to the debate and I want to express gratitude to all those who have contributed to it, particularly those who have put enormous experience at the service of our discussions today. I am particularly grateful for the emphasis placed on two points. First, a number of speakers have referred to the impact of custodial sentencing on family...

Sentencing (26 Mar 2004)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: rose to call attention to the social purpose of sentencing; and to move for Papers. My Lords, the present situation of the penal system of this country gives occasion for recognising a high level of paradox. The proverbial Martian observer, perhaps a more likely character in the light of recent exploration than we might once have thought, would doubtless be rather surprised by what they might...

Tributes to the late Lord Williams of Mostyn (6 Oct 2003)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, one of the marks of a good lawyer is surely that he or she should confer dignity upon those situations and those persons with whom they have to deal. It may well be that this House needs no such conferrals of dignity, but what has already been said this afternoon has indicated that sense of seriousness, that sense of enjoyment and that sense of broad vision which are always...

Children and Parents (26 Mar 2003)

The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, for giving us the opportunity of so timely a debate—a debate that recognises, as we needs must recognise at present, a major cultural shift. The time was when the family appeared as a safe and stable piece of territory, surrounded by the ups and downs of public life. Now it is often the family itself that appears fragile...