Autumn Budget 2025

Lord Bishop of Manchester Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Manchester]

My Lords, I congratulate my right reverend friend the Bishop of Portsmouth on his excellent maiden speech. Not least as our lead Bishop on education, I believe he will have an immediate and valuable contribution to make to the remaining stages of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. He and I first met as opponents on the cricket field many years ago; I am sure he will build as long and solid an innings here in your Lordships’ House as ever he did at the wicket.

I also join many noble Lords in adding my deepest thanks to the Government for bringing the two-child limit to an end. I never felt it right or just to push a child into poverty simply for having too many sisters or brothers; it makes even less sense when we badly need a birth rate that will provide Britain with tomorrow’s workforce without having to rely on migration to fill the labour market gaps. I look forward to seeing the wider child poverty strategy.

I further welcome moves to reduce household energy bills, changes on apprenticeships, and the freeze on rail fares. Gambling addiction remains a blight on our nation, especially online, so I support the increase in tax on online sites. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Hereford is currently attending on His Majesty and hence is not in his seat; I know that he would like attention drawn to how the Budget impacts the farming community, particularly family farms, and the rural economy. I was going to say more, but the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, has pipped me to the post—and with rather more colourful words than I might have mustered myself.

A 19th-century Act of Parliament determined that vicars should live in their benefices. Residence ensures that parishioners have easy access to them and that the vicar is a visible face on the streets of the parish, not merely another middle-class commuter. The modern vicarage is rarely as large and luxurious as some of former times; however, it needs not only to accommodate the priest and their household but to host meetings, provide a meeting place for parishioners, and provide study and office space. In many parts of London and the south-east, location factors mean that even in a relatively poor parish, the vicarage will have a capital value over the £2 million threshold for what we are learning to call the “mansion tax”. Few parishes will be able to pay this additional tax, nor can dioceses simply absorb the costs. If we are to maintain the important principle of clergy living where they serve, including those from other denominations, I urge the Minister to meet with church representatives so that we can discuss how the existing tax exemptions applying to the residences of ministers of religion can perhaps be extended.

Finally, places of worship are often anchor buildings on our high streets and in village centres. Their work is not just on Sunday mornings but throughout the week, with activities from pre-school groups to a warm welcome for the lonely, including a growing network of baby banks—several have started in my own diocese—which tackle poverty among families with very young children. Work to repair and improve such properties is not cheap, but it is vital if they are to continue to serve their communities and help to sustain flourishing village centres and high streets. Much-needed renovation and improvement work is currently being stalled by the lack of a secure, long-term future for the listed places of worship repair scheme. Will the Minister commit to reviewing the future of this vital scheme so that it can be extended in time, and commit to withdrawing the harmful limit of £25,000 a year, which was introduced only recently and makes many larger refurbishments unaffordable?

Trade Negotiations

Lord Bishop of Manchester Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I hear the noble Baroness’s frustration. We want businesses in Northern Ireland to be able to benefit from this to the fullest extent that they can, and that is absolutely what we expect here. Businesses in Northern Ireland, exporting their goods and services will benefit from this free trade agreement, just as businesses elsewhere within the United Kingdom will. Businesses exporting from Northern Ireland will therefore benefit from the free trade agreement with India, so this should be a good news story. When we think about businesses importing into Northern Ireland from India—India-originating goods entering Northern Ireland—they will do so under the terms of this free trade agreement provided that those goods are not at risk of entering the EU. This is where the Windsor Framework kicks in, making sure that, under the usual process of the Windsor Framework, that is protected. Businesses operating within Northern Ireland will benefit from the terms of the free trade agreement.

[The Lord Bishop of Manchester]

My Lords, I too welcome both trade agreements in recent weeks and congratulate His Majesty’s Government on achieving them. I know that in my diocese in Manchester, the large Indian diaspora community will be working hard to help British exports where they have improved opportunities.

I am not sure that the Minister quite answered the question from the Liberal Democrat Front Bench, with references to human rights and climate change. I want to widen that slightly with regard to the upcoming trade strategy that the Statement referred to and ask whether there is any ethical component to it? Will moral considerations play any part in negotiating the trade agreements, or is trade, in effect, an ethics-free zone?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

On the environmental aspect, this is India’s first ever chapter on the environment within a free trade agreement and it goes further into this area than it has ever gone before. The agreement requires India to promote high and continually improving levels of environmental protection, reaffirms our joint commitment to the Paris agreement and strengthens environmental standards through non-derogation commitments. It is a big first step, but a free trade agreement cannot fix all environmental issues. Those are most effectively tackled when we work directly and closely with our partners through this international approach. Having a deal like this solidifies our relationship and provides much broader access and opportunity to exert that influence.

Crown Estate Bill [HL]

Lord Bishop of Manchester Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 5th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Manchester]

My Lords, just briefly, I add to the wide range of support that the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, has had on this amendment some from our Benches here.

I think it is incumbent on the Crown Estate to be an exemplar, and the salmon farming scandal around lice has been going on for so long and is so horrendous. As the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has very clearly said, we need to take this amendment as a chance to do something about it.

I think it was the late Queen Mother, who, having been rushed into hospital with a fishbone in her throat, said that the salmon had begun their revenge. Please let us not give the salmon any more grounds to seek revenge against the Crown in any of its guises.

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

My Lords, briefly, I support my noble friend Lord Forsyth’s amendment, which I fully concur with—although I did feel rather left out not to be included in his elite triumvirate of supporters.

At previous stages of the Bill, we have heard many noble Lords express considerable disquiet about the state of aquaculture on Crown Estate land and the lack of proper governance by the Crown Estate commissioners. In Committee, the Minister seemed moved to look at this area and address some of the failings clearly apparent in the current framework. I sense today that the Minister seems reluctant to address these issues, which makes me wonder whether he has had any discussions with the fish farming industry. When responding to my noble friend Lord Forsyth, can the Minister confirm whether he has had any contact from the fish farming industry? If so, can he tell us the nature of these discussions?