The Lord Bishop of Lichfield

My Lords, this is an important and timely debate, as any opportunity to re-establish trust in politics is one that we must embrace eagerly. We are sadly familiar with the phrase, “A plague on both your houses”, used in a political context. The word “both” may be rather out of date, but the sentiment expressed encapsulates the frustration that many voters feel with the entire political system, thus overlooking many principled, honest and hard-working MPs, Peers and their staff. I will mention two points in particular. First, in my visits to prisons, I meet many men with time to think and to think deeply. Most people come to serve their sentence in prison only after a string of failures: personal failures and the failures of services, systems and institutions, including the Church. To have that direct and painful experience of system failure and yet, through disenfranchisement, to have no means to participate in efforts for their correction or renewal, can further erode any sense of civic engagement and belonging. I hope that this House will consider whether votes might be extended to at least some convicted prisoners as one dimension of the penal journey to rehabilitation. Secondly, I stand here embodying my belief that the Church has much to bring to civic engagement and the search for the common good in which all people can flourish, but I am deeply saddened to see our faith, or any faith or belief, being used to divide, to exclude or to intimidate. Recently, we have seen cases of pictures of church buildings being used in election campaign material without permission, and I fear we may see more images of churches, mosques, synagogues, mandirs, gurdwaras and other places of worship being used improperly. I and my colleagues on these Benches would like to see greater deterrence against this kind of malign misuse. I hope that the Government will see fit to work with the Electoral Commission and with faith leaders to strengthen the guidance given to candidates and to campaign managers in this area. This is the last time that I shall address your Lordships’ House before I retire at the end of this month. My maiden speech here was in a debate on parliamentary democracy in the UK, introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. I spoke then of the contributions that faith communities can make to the flourishing of democracy in our diverse society, an important issue to which we need constantly to return. It has been my privilege since then to make occasional contributions—alas, more infrequent than I might have hoped—to the workings of this House, and it has been an honour to be able to lead your Lordships in prayer. I thank all your Lordships for the quality, the expertise and the civility of your debates, and I thank the staff and the former and present Lord Speakers and their deputies for their unfailing helpfulness and courtesy. I wish your Lordships well in all your deliberations.