Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

This is a very short piece of legislation, but it has been a very long time in coming: 21 years on from the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993, the Church of England has finally come of age by admitting women for consecration as bishops. Those 21 years of delay have occasioned enormous pain—they have impaired the mission of the Church in the world by rejecting the leadership of half our population—and that is now to be put right. Given that this is without doubt the shortest speech I have ever made in this House, I suspect all my colleagues will find it doubly within their hearts to say, “Hallelujah”.