Social Cohesion and Community during Periods of Change

Lord Cashman Excerpts

Friday 6th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I remind the House that I speak as a non-affiliated Member of your Lordships’ House.

It is a great pleasure to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Sharma, on his maiden speech. I know Reading well; indeed, I appeared at the Hexagon many years ago and, thankfully, the population of Reading has forgotten that. We will gain much from his contribution and his wisdom.

I congratulate my friend, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, on opening this debate. Perhaps it is more worrying for him than for me that, as an atheist, I could probably have delivered 95% of his speech without flinching. I agree with everything he said.

We face very dangerous times. Politics has failed, as have politicians and institutions of state, when we choose power not to proceed positively but to punish and misrepresent. We then indulge in the politics of fear and hate to scapegoat and blame others. I believe we are better than that—we are all indeed better than that—but we are on the brink of failure, and I fear what may come. As the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York reminded us, the loss of trust takes everything in its wake.

Communities both at home and abroad are facing deep uncertainty, and we need to be radical in tackling the roots of disengagement, disempowerment and disfranchisement—the feeling of being lost, often, when you are still living in the place where you were born and where you feel you once belonged. That sense of not belonging, and loss of identity, is what others feel when they have no option but to abandon their roots, homes, families and language and seek a future elsewhere —migrants. One way or another, we have all been migrants and could so easily be again: in a mass of people who are wilfully misrepresented, tragically defamed and often presented as a threat by politicians and the media in order to gain or retain power over others.

We need to recognise at home and abroad that the problems that happen elsewhere are as important as if they are happening to us. Our communities need equality at their heart, along with respect and dignity, abiding by the same laws, with the same rights and protections that the law affords us. We must recognise that education nurtures and sustains throughout life, giving opportunities for all to change direction, and that information and education are at the centre of individual empowerment and the raising of aspirations.

We also need to recognise our historic obligations, that there is a moral imperative—and if that is not good enough, an economic imperative—in putting right the historical wrongs of our empire. We need to turn our backs on racism, fear and hatred and become the enemy of fear, hatred and racism, standing in the shoes of others, remembering that the denial of the rights of one person or group, especially the most defamed or misrepresented, is ultimately the denial of our own rights.

As politicians, we need to do more—more explaining but, above all, more listening. We need to call out what is going on in the world: to call out what is going on in Gaza, and not be accused of anti-Semitism when we criticise the Israeli Government for failing to abide by international legal obligations.

I put to your Lordships the voice of Sister Christine Frost, who has worked for 56 years in the East End of London. She says: “Community cohesion is one of the most valuable and priceless principles, which I believe politicians ignore at their peril. It enables communities to tackle racism before it can take root, so that we can re-own our common, rich humanity”. She continues: “Why, I ask my myself, do politicians sow so much discord and division? Because so few have walked in our shoes, experienced downright neglect, had to choose between heating and eating, know the cost of renting from greedy landlords or are forced to work two or three jobs, just to get by”.

I continue with her words: “Here in the East End of London, the disconnect between the rich and powerful and the voiceless and powerless can be very stark. It’s in our face. For us, community cohesion is the only glue holding us together. Our politicians could and should be using their authority—which we the voters have entrusted them with—to heal the evident disconnect and inequality of opportunity, health and care provisions, education and housing. Do you even know how unequal our society has become? Please don’t promote community cohesion as a cover-up; get down to the underlying roots and help us make this something real and lasting”.

Yesterday, reflecting on another woman who helped change the world, we gathered in Brussels to remember the Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, who died just over a year ago. She did something: she challenged power and the institutions and religions that hold people back and deny women and minorities their rights while simultaneously talking about the good of scripture. She challenged her own Government and other Governments, her own party and other parties, to do the right thing. She stood against tyrants during her time in the European Parliament and as chair of the Afro-Caribbean and Pacific joint parliamentary assembly. Whether the obstruction, hatred or abuse was coming from a developed or a developing country, she called it out. She spoke truth to power, particularly when it did not want to be heard.

She changed the world for the better by facing down the criticism and getting on with the work, knowing that inequality is the enemy of us all, particularly those who have no voice. We gathered in Brussels to celebrate her legacy, and her work goes on. She empowered others. Arguably, that is all that we as politicians need to do: empower the next generation for all that needs to be done, the challenges we have to face and the battles that can be won only on a multigenerational basis. Then, and only then, will we truly address the problems and empower others.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Archbishop of York]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to everyone who has spoken today for the breadth of perspectives and experiences that we have received. I also thank again those who have made a debate happen on a Friday.

I have a few assurances to make. The noble Lord, Lord Bird, described himself, I think, as an ex-devout Catholic. My dear friend the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, was slightly concerned that he agreed with me so much. It just shows how close he is to the Kingdom of God.

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

That is worrying.

[The Archbishop of York]

I remind the House, as I think I have said before, that I speak myself as a lapsed atheist, and I say to the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, that, because of that, I consider myself to be a sinner in need of grace. I do not pretend to be anything other and all sinners are welcome, whatever their political party. We stand as equals before God. I know that is how it feels to him, but please let him not think that. Whoever we are, we are welcome in the House of God, and all these other things, including our robes, do not matter.

I thank the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, and I assure him that, although I did not specifically speak of condemning violence, I absolutely condemn all violence, as do all of us on these Benches, and support the rule of law. I hope that was implicit in what I was saying. I can assure the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, that the Church of England has acted, since the Housing Matters report, to set up a housing association and a housing development agency and I will ask colleagues to write to him with details of how that piece of work, which the Bishop of Chelmsford is leading on, is developing.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Singh, as ever, for his moving words. They showed the deep connection between peoples of faith. I am reminded that Jesus nearly always made the hero of some of his most famous stories someone of another faith—we will come to the Good Samaritan in a moment. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Bottomley, that we are inherently social. That is a really important starting point that immediately binds us together, one with another.

I say to the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, that the Church of England is the local church. What matters is the Church on the ground, serving our communities day in, day out, which is also why I have to pay tribute to all volunteers, mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, including church volunteers. I for one am glad that church volunteers now do safeguarding training, because it makes the Church a safer place. I did it myself two weeks ago: I regularly do safeguarding training and it is a good development in the life of the Church.

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Mann, that we need to pay attention to power: it is an important thing for all of us in positions of responsibility. The Church of England needs to be a humbler Church. I recognise that I stand here knowing that our Church has been humbled by these failings and we are determined to learn from them. I therefore thank the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, for her probing questions, which she could not ask us directly, but I heard them and I want her to know that. I also want her to know that there are many bishops asking these probing questions, not just one bishop. Proposals that will be coming to the General Synod of the Church of England in February are our response to the IICSA proposals and other reports, which we have been and are working on, towards independence.

I thank the Minister for his positive responses to the points that have been raised in this debate and for his undefended approach, which is something that we all need on these issues, where we know we all have so much to do and where we can all so easily fall short.

I affirm and support the Church Commissioners for the work they are doing, which is not about trying to go back 200 years but about building a better future. If we face up to our mistakes in the past, be it mistakes in safeguarding or, in that case, the horrors and evils of slavery, and build a better future then we all benefit because we build a better and more just society.

I say to my dear friend, the noble Lord, Lord Robathan, that it sounds like we need another cup of tea, brother. We do that from time to time; it is a bit battering but, as I have been saying to people recently when they ask, “How are you, Archbishop?”, I am battered but not yet fried. Still, we are humbled, and there are many things that he has put his finger on that the Church of England needs to address. Let us have another cup of tea, because there is so much investment going on in the Church of England on the ground and we need to address that. However, it was not the Church that closed churches in the pandemic; that was the Prime Minister.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Willetts, for what he said about intergenerational community. I remind him and the House that the faith community is probably the only place left in our society where generations meet.

Lastly, I have to rise to the bait that the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, dangled before me early on about the good Samaritan. He asked himself a different version of the very question that the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”, though the noble Lord put it like this: “Is there a hierarchy of obligations?” I dare to suggest that he got his answer from his own Benches, not least from the powerful, important and moving speech by the noble Lord, Lord Sharma. We are in a climate emergency, and that teaches us that our well-being and survival are tied up with that of our neighbours across the whole world.

The noble Baroness, Lady Helic, made a moving speech—these were not her words, but they are what I heard—about building coalitions of good will across difference, and I say to the noble Lord, Lord Leigh of Hurley, that a lot of good work is going on at the local level with people of different faiths working together. Andy Burnham has initiated such work in Greater Manchester and I am involved in trying to get that started in York and North Yorkshire, while my right reverend friend the Bishop of Bristol spoke about the One City initiative in Bristol. All these things are based on the idea that we belong to one another.

In fact, as a Christian—sorry to go all theological, but the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, did ask—we believe that God is a community of persons. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we who are made in the image of God are at our best when we build communities that give and receive a reciprocity of the love that we see in God and which we try to mirror here on earth.

So is there a hierarchy of obligations? When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbour?”, he did not actually answer that question. He asked another one—“Who is neighbour to you?”—and told a story, one that we all love because it makes fun of people in power. He said there was a priest and there was a lawyer, but they did not do what common decency and the law require. They failed. As I say, I speak here as someone who knows our Church has failed.

So, who will be the hero of the story? The people listening, who know this story, think it will make fun of the lawyer and the priest; the hero will be the ordinary man in the street—the good Jew. But Jesus turns it on its head. The hero is not who you expect it to be. The hero is the stranger. The hero is the foreigner. The hero is the heretic. Worse than that, the hero is also wealthy, just to rub salt into the wounds.

That is the person who ministers to you. So, is there a hierarchy of obligations? I would put it differently. There is the human community, of which I am a part. I have obligations and responsibilities to my neighbour, whoever they are, and I want to build a society—this, for me, is a fundamentally spiritual and Christian point—where I can love my neighbour and my neighbour can love and serve me. I welcome all in trying to build such a society.

I will finish with an illustration of the power of the good Samaritan, who is a neighbour to you when you are in the ditch. Let us imagine Donald Trump in a ditch, and that it is an illegal Mexican refugee who gives him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That is the power of the story, and that is the challenge before us about loving and serving each other. I welcome the conversation and the debate. I will be praying that we can rise to that challenge and build a more socially cohesive world.