Freedom of Speech

Lord Bishop of Birmingham Excerpts

Friday 10th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Birmingham]

My Lords, as we have been hearing, speech is one of the most precious gifts for humanity, freedom of which is easy to take for granted, as we may do from week to week in this House, but even easier to abuse. Speech is so important that, at this season of the year, for people of Christian tradition, we even call the son of God’s appearance the word of God—the word made flesh.

In the same scriptures in which we read that story, there is warning of the danger of the use of the tongue:

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”


Of course, I do not refer to anyone who stands on the platform at Speakers’ Corner or any other venue of that kind. We remember also

“the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!”—

the blaze of instant phone recordings or a tweet out of context.

Good law is in place; we have just heard about the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and Article 19 in it, and there is also our own Human Rights Act 1998 and its Article 9,

“Freedom of thought, conscience and religion”,

and Article 10, “Freedom of expression”. We give thanks for those, but we also notice laws around the world that need challenge and change; for example, blasphemy laws in countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and Pakistan, where organisations such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide draw our attention to the sort of things we have just been hearing about from the noble Baroness.

Today, even when good law is in place and upheld in public, personal and public speech can perpetuate prejudice and division—or it can extend the benefit of these hard-won freedoms. Our most reverend friend mentioned the importance of intermediate activity in this area. Between the nation and the individual is the need to soften and remove the inhibitions on speaking up or speaking out, to allay the fear of exclusion or reprisal and to give new confidence in conversation. This is where civil society and faiths can create and convene safe spaces where difference can be spoken with care and understanding can be deepened, truth revealed and progress made towards a common good. I will give one or two examples of putting this into practice from my personal experience—in South Africa, Birmingham, the Church of England, as mentioned already, and the City of London.

In South Africa, following the intense need for truth and reconciliation, there are continuing deeper conversations—courageous conversations, as they are called—convened by the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba. These conversations are focused on the key industry in the country, extractives and mining, and they bring together each element of people who find it really difficult to talk to each other—senior politicians, the companies themselves, the trade unions and, essentially, the communities most affected by the activity, either economically or personally. This is an accomplishment model of good, courageous conversations that could not happen in public but can happen with Chatham House rules and appreciation, in particular of the dignity of the person—starting with a relationship and moving on to possibility, opportunity, action and result. There is no quick win, but a deep transformation of relationships through honest speech.

In Birmingham, interfaith conversations have been an essential follow-up to the mechanical mechanisms of Prevent, along with other things that try to resolve extreme differences in our local society. Conversations are bringing together the six main religions—Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and people from Judaism—in the same room to listen appropriately and begin to gather the issues that really matter so that we can build up a public discourse and necessary change. The Feast in Birmingham is a youth example of that, with principles of engagement in which friendship is the key. They may seem very obvious: listen to what everyone has to say, do not tell others what they believe, do not force people to agree with your views and so on.

In the Church of England, we have mentioned the difference course. There are also the six pastoral principles, which are really painful, for those of us who are grown up, mature and confident, to be aware of as we face difficult conversations which may end in disagreement. They are: ignorance, power—as has been mentioned—fear, prejudice, silence and hypocrisy. We keep those in mind when trying to face up to disagreeing well on hard-won social issues.

Finally, just to mention another example, the Financial Services Culture Board, in that great industry, is trying to develop a culture of openness and honesty, where whistleblowing is not a necessary and brave thing to do but where issues can be raised easily and functionally so that, in an assessment of progress, we can see a benchmark model of improvement in how good speech and behaviour are improving in an important part of our society.

Noble Lords may be familiar with these principles. I am arguing that the intermediate activity of each individual in their groupings is the only way forward for actually practising these principles, which are enshrined in law. Some of them need to change worldwide, but we need to practise them. I hope those examples will give us encouragement to join in and change ourselves as much as we want to change others. Let us have difficult conversations and take this place for a creative, lively, compassionate and honest use of this precious gift of freedom of speech, for the good of all.

Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill [HL]

Lord Bishop of Birmingham Excerpts

Tuesday 9th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Birmingham]

My Lords, perhaps I may comment on one or two of these amendments in one go. I was delighted to hear the enthusiasm for Birmingham. The noble Lord, Lord Rooker, did not say where he had been on holiday, but I hope he will choose Birmingham on a future occasion.

The things I would like to comment on in slightly more detail arise in particular in Amendment 5. Perhaps I may take the chance to commend the Minister and the Government, and the co-operation that there has been with local authorities and the local committee in getting the Games up and running in very short order. Time, energy, skill and money have been committed to make them a success.

The details, of course, are important, and on the housing issue—proposed new subsection (6)—there is an attitude of co-operation between different authorities. It is understood that the organising committee itself is not responsible directly for the future of housing: that is Birmingham City Council. There are already targets for social and affordable housing in the council’s development plan, with a figure a wee bit less than the 50% mentioned on the list: it is actually 35%. But it is true that the number of 1,400 dwellings out of the village will include affordable and social housing of some 24% in future plans. This is a sign of the importance of getting these targets and ideas firmly in an agreed legacy plan.

I go on to proposed new subsection (2)(e). Noble Lords are adding more and more items. In terms of legacy, it is important to realise that this city region—no doubt this has been mentioned in debate—is one of the youngest and most diverse in Europe. In fact, the successful advertising video that won the Games was called “Go the Distance” and had huge numbers of diverse people from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of skills, demonstrating what a lively and vibrant city it is.

One legacy that is very important to the chairman of the committee, John Crabtree, and the chief exec, Ian Reid, is the skills lab. During the process of delivering building projects, ambassadorial projects and all sorts of things associated with Games of this size, young people will be able not just to join in for the Games but to have an opportunity to develop their own skills. Your Lordships may like to know that a plan is well advanced for co-operation with the Learning and Skills Council, worth £1.5 million. There is also the opportunity for the 12,500 young people who may be needed in roles at that stage to combine those from more disadvantaged areas with those who may already be highly able, and perhaps in higher education. This would be a kind of visionary buddy scheme, so that those less advantaged and not yet skilled will participate in a new college course at FE level. They will come out of the Games experience with a skill and accreditation that will perhaps enable them to go out and get a job in the wider world.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Rooker]

My Lords, I beg to move the revised Amendment 4, which, as the Chairman has said, is on a separate sheet. There is a modest change from the original draft, plus my name is now against this amendment because of my noble friend Lord Hunt’s absence.

The amendment raises the issue of a levy or bedroom tax. I am not sure that I would call it a probing amendment; I do not understand why we have never done this before. The fact is that, the broader the tax base right across the piece, the less high taxes have to be. It seems a common-sense arrangement. With this Bill and the Commonwealth Games, there is an opportunity for the Government to do something that Governments—including the one I was a member of—do not do enough, and that is to pilot schemes. From the briefing I have been given, I understand that most members of Core Cities in England and Wales are lobbying the Government for a hotel occupancy tax. This is a devolved matter in Scotland and there is an expectation that Edinburgh will soon introduce such a tax. In some ways, this puts pressure on what I might call the English Government to do the same.

In a way, it is a golden opportunity. We could use this Bill to ring-fence a tax for Birmingham and Solihull, as the local authorities that will be most affected, although there are hotels in Sandwell as well. If the Government used this Bill to pilot a hotel occupancy tax for ring-fenced money for the Commonwealth Games and put a time limit on it, after the Games we could look at how it worked and review the impact and effectiveness of the tax. I know people will argue that we do not want more new taxes, but the broader our tax base is, the less high taxes have to be—that does not mean we have to tax everything.

We are not reinventing the wheel here: this is done around the world. We all travel and we do not think twice about it. The tax might be lost in the hotel bill—it is always incredibly modest—but it usually goes locally and helps local authorities with all the extra costs and issues they have as a result of being a tourist attraction. I would have thought that this was a golden opportunity for someone in the Government to make a name for themselves by piloting this scheme, which will be a good idea, and see how it goes just for the Games.

[The Lord Bishop of Birmingham]

My Lords, I support the spirit of partnership between local and national fundraising for this specific, ring-fenced purpose, as described by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker.

The numbers are quite interesting: it is estimated that £1 a night for the three-year period from 2020 to 2022 might bring in £4.5 million to £5 million per year, which could possibly amount to £15 million of local contributions being raised—the gap is probably £40 million. At least 8% of what is required locally by these boroughs could be raised in this way.

I know that the proposal is unpopular in certain spheres, particularly among those who count tourism and visitor numbers as vital to their economy—as we do in Birmingham and Solihull, which are popular conference and holiday venues, and we want to develop that. However, in deciding where to stay, a hotel price can vary from £20 to £25, depending on the day of the week, so £1 a night does not seem too burdensome. A small charge could also help motivate people to supporting a national and an international Games, which could make them feel good and even make them want to come back and attend the Games themselves.

I ask the Government to give this serious consideration as a partnership between local commitment and national taxation.

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I had no intention of speaking in this debate, but I rise having represented the West Midlands for 15 years in the European Parliament. As a non-aligned Member, I would still like to call the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, my noble friend, because this is an eminently sensible idea. The proposal, as outlined and supported by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Birmingham, builds on that in asking for a pilot. I urge the Government to think about it. The only thing that I would suggest, coming from a working-class background in the East End, is to make it a bit more attractive by, instead of £1, making it 99p.

As my noble friend Lord Rooker said, this sort of tax works in thriving economies in other parts of the world. Many tourists and many participants in sports and events in our cities do not begrudge the payment because they see where it is going. I urge the Government not to dismiss this out of hand, to embrace the suggestion of a pilot scheme and then to come back to your Lordships’ House.