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🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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My Lords, it is more than seven years since I first spoke in this House. It is a long time since I was a maiden like the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, and the noble Lord, Lord Lebedev, whom I congratulate on their arrival and their speeches. Today, my name has “Valedictory” next to it. Three weeks ago, I said an emotional godspeed to the people of the Portsmouth diocese at a cathedral...
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My Lords, there is much to be welcomed in the defence Command Paper and the integrated review. As the Bishop of Portsmouth, I particularly welcome the ambitious signals to British shipbuilding for the Navy. However, I worry that, noting the tilt to the Indo-Pacific and expansion of Britain’s geographical scope into Africa, the integrated review does not suggest reducing the UK...
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My Lords, I welcome from the Bishops’ Bench the noble Lords, Lord Beynon, Lord Cruddas and Lord Khan of Burnley, and congratulate them on their speeches. I am looking forward to hearing them. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, and my namesake, the noble Baroness, Lady Foster of Oxton. Every Budget has consequences in every community, including those I serve as Bishop of...
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My Lords, reflecting on the Bill, its intentions and likely legal effect reminded me of something I learned during my time as chaplain of Wadham College, Oxford, during the febrile days of the 1980s. Wadham was then, as now, a crucible of intellectual innovation, not least in literary studies. Its senior English fellow then was Terry Eagleton, who interested himself in a method of criticism...
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My Lords, I welcome this announcement, with its impact on jobs and industry, including in the diocese I serve. I note the welcome emphasis that the Government appear to give to defence and security. Will the Minister therefore recognise that previous defence reviews set out grand, strategic ambitions but were not backed by the necessary resources? Will she specifically confirm the...
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My Lords, I welcome the Government’s desire to protect jobs and livelihoods, but can the Minister confirm that the extension of the furlough scheme until March—a full five months—is based on the assumption and expectation that those jobs, or at least the vast majority of them, will be ready to return to unchanged? That is a bold assumption. If it is not the case, what strategy do the...
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My Lords, the Church of England alone has 16,000 church buildings, over 12,000 of which are listed. We are at the bedrock of our communities and thus can be at the heart of recovery. I therefore make three points. First, we are rich in assets, but the pandemic means that income is plummeting, and budgets were already tight. I therefore urge the Government at least to remove VAT on repairs to...
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My Lords, we know how crucial the social care sector is, and the huge challenges it faced even before Covid-19, with 120,000 care assistant vacancies. Can the Minister therefore respond to the excellent suggestion from the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury that we establish a royal commission on social care, not to blame but to learn, so that we have the right information to...
More of The Bishop of Portsmouth's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to postpone the extension of the policy to provide support to a maximum of two children to new Universal Credit claimants.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statistics they published on 28 June, how many (1) families, and (2) children have been affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children in each month since that policy came into effect.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statistics they published on 28 June, whether they have revised their estimates of (1) the number of families affected, and (2) the Exchequer savings from those families in their original impact assessment of the policy to provide support to a maximum of two children, in each year up to 2020–21.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 5 February (HL5370), whether they have applied the Family Test to the policy to provide support to a maximum of two children; and if so, how the potential impacts on families are being taken into account.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides adequate levels of support for people to find work, improve their skills and contribute to their communities.
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To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure continuity between the European Social Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Fund to ensure there is no break in funding for disadvantaged individuals and communities.
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the impact of the recent increase in inflation on the number of children in poverty; and what plans they have for protecting low income families against the rising cost of basic essentials.
More of The Bishop of Portsmouth's written questions
