"Get Bishops Out Of Our Law-Making" Demands Journalist

Country: United Kingdom

Date of incident: February 25, 2011


Under the headline: “Get bishops out of our law-making”, journalist Mr. Hari hit out at the bishops for voting against measures within the highly controversial Equality Bill and for their stance on end-of-life issues.

British Prime Minister Nick Clegg needs to be pressured into removing bishops from the House of Lords, a journalist writing in The Independent has said. Johann Hari wants the 26 bishops who currently sit in the House of Lords to be ejected. The membership in the House of Lords - other than in the House of Commons - is not attained by election, but by inheritance, by appointment, or by virtue of their ecclesiastical role. It comprises almost 800 members of which 26 are Anglican bishops. A reform of the House of Lords - due to reasons of efficiency is under way: In May 2011 the British Government published a draft House of Lords Bill and accompanying white paper. Under these proposals the size of the House of Lords would be reduced to 312 members: 240 elected, 60 appointed by an independent commission, and 12 Anglican Bishops. The maintenance of the historically grown practice of Anglican bishops as members of the House of Lords recognizes cultural, religious and historical facts. We thank the Christian Institute for reporting. Read more at: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/journalist-demands-bishops-be-removed-from-the-lords/