Channel Islands Measure

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Excerpts

Wednesday 15th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Birmingham for setting out so clearly the background to and information on the Motion. I can see that this is extremely complicated and distressing; I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, for setting out the distressing background to this measure.

The Church of England, of which I am a member, has some very obscure mechanisms for dealing with its internal operations—something that Trollope would still recognise if he were alive today. I am well used to parishes being moved to different deaneries as the number of worshippers changes and the availability of clergy in post diminishes. I am also used to some deaneries disappearing altogether and the boundaries of others being extended, but this is the first time I have come across a transfer from one diocese to another. Of course, it may be much more common than I imagine and just has not crossed my radar before.

The Channel Islands are a very distinctive community. Guernsey and Jersey have their own legislatures. They are beautiful, interesting and have a good climate. Most of us know this, and know that they are the only UK soil to have been invaded during the Second World War. Therefore, it seems all the more poignant that they should have suffered the sorry tale of the events that we are debating today. Safeguarding can be a thorny problem; if it is not handled well, there are ramifications for a number of people on the sidelines.

There are sure to be differences of opinions on both sides about the outcome, and having read the briefing paper, I believe that moving the Channel Islands from the Winchester diocese to that of Salisbury is the right way forward. Following the report of the commission of the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Chartres, on 10 February the General Synod Business Committee decided that the measure should pass to the final approval stage, which it did on 13 February. There it was passed overwhelmingly by all three houses: bishops, clergy and laity. I do not believe that engaging in the delay that would have occurred had Dame Heather Steel’s report been considered by the Ecclesiastical Committee was necessary.

I am content that this matter has been dealt with properly. I am afraid I do not support the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, in his Motion to go back through the process of engaging the Ecclesiastical Committee, four members of which are taking part in this debate. Having long been a passive supporter of the disestablishment of the Church of England, especially when dealing with faculties, I am not persuaded. It is time to move on. I support the right reverend Prelate in the Church of England’s wish to move the Channel Islands to the diocese of Salisbury.