No Women Bishops? No Bishops in the Lords

In the wake of the Church of England’s decision not to let women become Bishops, what place does the Church have in our political system? Currently with twenty-six automatic seats in the House of Lords, the bishops of this country have significant political presence. The recent vote of the church to not allow women to become Bishops shows further that the church is an outdated, sexist organisation – with no right to influence politics in this country.

The decision of the vote is not supported by those most influential in the Church. But one glance at the tweeted response of Justin Welby, the soon-to-be leader of the Church, and it becomes pretty clear that religious bodies have no place in politics. He tweeted that it had been a ‘very grim day, most of all for women priests and supporters’. Welby also spoke of the need to ‘co-operate with our healing God’. It’s hard to imagine David Cameron emerging from a political vote bemoaning a result in which the vast majority of the country and its political representatives had been thwarted by such a small a minority of unelected, unrepresentative misogynists. Welby may say that the problem lies within the voting procedures and not within the institution as a whole. However, no Prime minister can hide behind a ‘healing’ third party, rather than tackling the issues at hand. If the House of Lords acts to challenge the government and ensure that the will of the electorate is represented in the Commons, what place have the leaders of an institution which can’t ensure that the voice of its own majority is heard?

In response to the decision of the vote, MPs have begun an e-petition to remove the right of the Church of England to have automatic seats in the House of Lords. Their petition is as follows:

The Church of England on 20th Nov 2012 voted not to allow women to be Bishops. Though that is within its rights to do, this should worry the Government as Church of England Bishops are awarded legislative power through seats in the House of Lords.

The Church has chosen to be a sexist organisation by refusing women the right to hold highest leadership positions and therefore should not be allowed automatic seats in the House of Lords, as this clearly does not comply with the spirit of UK Equality law.

We call on the Govt to remove the right of the Church of England to have automatic seats in the House of Lords, in line with its commitments to equality and non-discrimination, set out in the Equality Act (2010) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979)”

The e-petition can be found at : http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/42117

Arguments of democracy, equality and secularity are the strongest for this case. In practical terms, the Bishops have little influencing power. It is hoped that this petition will encourage the removal of Bishops from the Lords due to their symbolic presence, more so than their power in practice.

Out of the 760 seats overall in the House of Lords, the Church holds only twenty-six of them. This is compared to 212 Conservative, 225 Labour, and 90 Liberal Democrat peers. So in practical terms, if turnout were 100% in the House of Lords, and party lines held all the time, the Bishops would never influence law – the vote would go to the coalition every time. However, allowing Bishops automatic seats in the House of Lords undermines the credibility of our democracy. We are a highly developed liberal country, and this appears to contradict our morality. An organisation that is exempt from some aspects of the law, such as the Church of England is with the equality legislation act has no place in our parliament.

Speaking to students unaware of the issue, it was surprising how many were shocked and appalled that such an undemocratic practise was still operating in this country. Laurence Jones-Williams, a member of Manchester Universities Humanist Group, told The Mancunion ‘It’s a wonder how in the 21^st century we still allow seemingly 18^th century practices. The recent decision of the Church further shows the illegitimacy of the Bishops’ presence in the House of Lords’.

If you agree with the arguments above, I urge you to sign the petition. The fact the argument is in the political spectrum at all in the 21^st century is unnerving, a stark reminder of one of the many obstacles we still have to overcome to become a truly liberal progressive society. The recent vote has shown that sadly the Church is not moving with the times, let alone reflecting the vast majority opinion in this country.