Bishop Christopher had an eventful week on duty in the House of Lords. Besides leading prayers in the house and engaging with other members, he asked the following oral questions:
On Tuesday he asked Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, about the need to ensure adequate representation of UK Overseas Territories at the forthcoming COP26 summit, given their biodiversity and vulnerability to natural disasters. Watch the discussion here and read the transcript here.
On Wednesday, the Bishop engaged in a discussion on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, in response to a statement issued in the House of Commons by the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa. Bishop Christopher asked the government whether it would commit to maintaining its aid commitments to Yemen, and whether it might reconsider the UK’s arms trade with Saudi Arabia in light of this. Watch the discussion here and read the transcript here.
Finally, on Thursday, Bishop Christopher asked a question in response to a statement by Lord Ahmad on the deteriorating situation in Myanmar. In his question, the Bishop paid tribute to religious and civic leaders in Myanmar, and expressed a hope that the UK government might help to encourage the military to engage in a process of dialogue with the democracy movement, and to help facilitate a peace process with the country’s ethnic minorities. Watch the discussion here and read the transcript here.