the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, research by Citizens Advice shows that the main reason people are referred to food banks is delay in the payment of benefits and benefit sanctions; anecdotally, this is also the church’s own experience from its involvement in the many food banks it helps to run across the country. Will the Minister tell us whether the Government are persuaded by this evidence and, if they are not,...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, is the Minister aware of the work of the Mission to Seafarers, the world's largest provider of port-based humanitarian and welfare services for seafarers and their families, which has provided assistance to victims of piracy, especially in the region around Somalia? Will he consider engaging with the Mission to Seafarers to develop a model of support for families of hostage victims?
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, the Church of England's national investing bodies recently decided to avoid investment in payday lending firms because of the risk of exploitative lending. Bearing in mind that credit has to be provided responsibly and affordably, will the Government also consider instituting a requirement that payday lenders must, before advancing a loan, assess a borrower's financial circumstances...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, over the past decade encouraging gains have been achieved against the targets of the millennium development goals. Yet, is it not unacceptable that 9 million children still die each year before they reach their fifth birthday? In sub-Saharan Africa, this represents the death of one in seven children under five. It is equally unacceptable that more than 350,000 women should die each...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, Her Majesty's Government are rightly concerned about the level of public confidence in policing, which is part of the general crisis of disillusionment with political life and public institutions. Clearly it must be right in principle to seek to reconnect the public with the prevention and detection of crime and the preservation of public safety. However, as we all know, doing this...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I rise to associate the Bishops' Bench with the tributes already paid to the retiring Clerk of the Parliaments. There is, as your Lordships know, a steady stream of new Bishops entering this House, since we rarely stay beyond retirement. Over the past few years, Michael Pownall has been a welcoming face and voice to many Bishops undergoing their induction into your Lordships' House;...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Taylor and Lord Henley, for what they have said this afternoon, because it means that there will be no need for me to move Amendment 47A relating to the Forest of Dean. As noble Lords are aware, there was particular anxiety and anger in the Forest of Dean, which falls within my diocese of Gloucester, at the proposals to legislate in...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I speak as until recently the chair of the Church of England's Hospital Chaplaincies Council, and, as it happens, the husband of a specialist in palliative medicine and the father of a fairly newly qualified hospital doctor. I believe passionately in the National Health Service and want to see its future secure. I share some of the concerns expressed recently by primary care trusts...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, on behalf of the Lords Spiritual, I add my tribute to Lord Windlesham and my condolences to his family. I acknowledge his particular contribution as a Roman Catholic to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. As we have heard, his appointment as Minister of State in the Northern Ireland Office was described as "inspired". Without people like him, the tensions between Catholics...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, is the Minister aware that the killings in Baghdad were followed by a chilling statement on Tuesday by al-Qaeda in Iraq that Christians are legitimate targets and that, "the killing sword will not be lifted" from their necks? Will the Government now urgently review their policy in respect of Christian Iraqi refugees and inform the House when they have done so?
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Ford, for initiating this debate. The issue of affordable housing, especially for the young, is of course a nationwide problem, but I see it particularly acutely in the county of Gloucestershire, where I live and work, and more especially in the Cotswolds. If I may, I shall share something of what I see. The average Gloucestershire...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, for initiating this debate, and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, on his energising maiden speech. In March last year, I visited the Mtabila refugee camp in the Kasulu district of north-west Tanzania. The visit was part of a wider visit to Tanzania, to learn about the needs of the Anglican diocese of Western Tanganyika on the...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, can the Minister confirm that the Government have no intention to relax the current Sunday Trading Act in a way that would alter Boxing Day this year, which is on a Sunday, to be a normal shopping day, which would undermine the rights of workers to a proper Christmas break?
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, given that the Governments of both north and south Sudan have little control of the country outside the few conurbations, and that the only organisations with an effective network across the whole of Sudan are the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, what plans might Her Majesty's Government have to encourage both Sudanese Governments to link with the churches in order to build...
the Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I am deeply grateful to noble Lords and to support staff for both welcome and help when I was introduced in December. I promptly made my integration into this House more difficult by disappearing on a 12-week sabbatical from which I have just returned, keen to delay no longer my maiden speech and my involvement in the life of this House, which I will seek to serve well. I begin by...
