Oral Answers to Questions

David Amess Excerpts

Thursday 20th April 2017 Commons Chamber

The right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners was asked—

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

2. What assessment the Church of England has made of the implications of the European Court of Justice ruling of March 2017 on wearing religious dress and symbols in the workplace.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Dame Caroline Spelman)]

The Church of England was very concerned by the judgment of the European Court of Justice that stated that blanket bans on the wearing of political, philosophical or religious signs do not amount to cases of direct discrimination, because that conflicts with the pre-existing rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. By leaving the European Union, we presumably stand some chance of resolving such inconsistencies.

[Sir David Amess]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is yet another reason to be pleased that last year the British people took the decision to leave the European Union? The ruling was deeply offensive to people of all faiths and totally unnecessary.

[Dame Caroline Spelman]

Yes, and it was completely at odds with the statutory purpose of the Church of England, which was put far better than I possibly could by the head of the Church, Her Majesty the Queen, when in 2012 she made it clear that the Church of England

“has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.”

That is what we should be able to do if we can resolve this inconsistency.