King’s Speech

Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this House. I begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for the warm welcome I have received from all sides. I thank the officers and staff of this House for their patience, professionalism and kindness in guiding new Members through these early days. As Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, I serve the people of Suffolk, that great east of England county upon which the sun rises first each morning. I aim to join those who live out the particular Suffolk virtue of quiet service: people getting on with the task, often without applause, motivated by a genuine desire to make their communities better places for all.

My academic literary research before ordination took me deep into the works of the great Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser, whose Fairie Queene examines some of the private and public virtues needed to uphold the common good and the bonds of society. Whether biblically or classically rooted, virtue is much needed. Leadership in this current age needs to refocus on the common good, the social bonds and contracts that hold individuals together as communities. Of course, I include in that a matter at the heart of our debate today in response to His Majesty’s gracious Speech: justice, with a specific interest in the realities of and responses to miscarriages of justice. I thank my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester, from whom we will hear later in this debate, for her energy, commitment and expertise over the years in urging us to reimagine a better criminal justice system for all. I welcome the Government’s desire to improve the courts and look forward to seeing their proposed legislation in these areas.

The United Kingdom has long been seen as a standard-bearer for the rule of law—yet even strong systems are not immune to error. When those errors lead to wrongful convictions, the impact is profound, not just for individuals but for confidence in the whole system. In this landscape, the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission is indispensable. It exists as a safeguard—a recognition that the justice system must contain within it the means to correct its own errors. It is in relation to the CCRC that I draw this House’s attention to the case of Jason Moore, convicted in 2013 for the murder of Robert Darby. I mention this matter with the permission of Jason and his sister Kirsty. Both Jason Moore’s and Robert Darby’s families have spent the last 13 years campaigning to have that conviction reviewed. Amid fiascos of lost evidence and problems with the management of identity parades and vital witnesses, Jason is still waiting for the CCRC to come to a decision about sending his case to appeal. His case has been under consideration by it for six years now.

Miscarriages of justice are not abstract legal concepts but lived human experiences. They concern individuals who maintain their innocence while navigating a system that can be slow, complex and difficult to penetrate. Wrongful conviction is not simply the loss of liberty; it is the loss of years, sometimes decades. When convictions are ultimately overturned, the sense of relief is tempered by a stark reality: lost time cannot be restored. Noble Lords may be aware of previous criticism of the CCRC and the promise of a review of it by the Law Commission. Since justice delayed is justice denied, this review needs to be concluded, with any actions that follow from it considered with urgency. I therefore press the Minister for a timescale for the completion of that review.

As this House considers the legislative programme set out in His Majesty’s gracious Speech, I hope we will give due weight to those whose voices are hardest to hear: individuals maintaining their innocence over many years from within prison, and the families who stand alongside them. Any system worthy of public confidence must be able to correct and learn from its mistakes. In the words of Edmund Spenser,

“Where justice grows, there grows eke greater grace”.


If I can contribute in however a modest way to strengthening fairness, timeliness and accountability within such systems, I shall consider it a privilege to do so.