Mark Gilmore
Mark serves as the policy advisor at the Evangelical Alliance. He has worked in both the House of Lords, House Commons and as a parliamentary officer to the Christians in Parliament All Party Parliamentary Group. He is interested in the role of faith in public life, Jesus’ call to social justice and all things policy. When he isn’t talking politics, he enjoys theatre, singing and a good run!
The promise and peril of digital ID
2 October 2025ID cards were introduced for both world wars but were abolished after each as there was a widespread feeling that they were becoming invasive, increasingly used for more general purposes and contrary to British values. This week, at the Global Progress Action Summit, the prime minister announced his plans to introduce digital ID to tackle illegal immigration and streamline access to services, saying, “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It’s as…
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A glimmer of hope: the Lords is uncovering the truth about assisted suicide
23 September 2025 On Friday, the House of Lords concluded its two-day second reading debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. As is convention, the bill wasn’t voted down at this stage, but there was a significant victory: Labour peer Baroness Berger successfully passed an amendment to set up a special select committee to scrutinise the bill before it moves to the next stage. This matters. Too often assisted suicide debates can feel like shovelling snow while it’s still snowing, many claims…
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Ending the wild west: why the Online Safety Act matters
19 September 2025The internet revolution has transformed every aspect of our lives. Parents, communities, schools, and churches are all being tested by an online world that often feels beyond our control. Many of us remember an earlier, more hopeful vision of the internet. Yet today, our online lives are saturated with misinformation, commercial exploitation, and danger. And over the past decade, the gap between our offline and online worlds has never felt wider. The Online Safety Act 2023, passed by the…
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Do not be silent: speaking truth in a culture of fear
23 July 2025So said Winston Churchill in the Commons chamber in October 1943, at the height of World War II. Even in a time of national crisis, Britain held fast to the principle of free speech. Enormous sacrifices were made to preserve it. But do we still cherish this freedom today? In 2019, Rev. Dr. Bernard Randall, a Church of England school chaplain, was reported to the UK government’s anti-terrorism Prevent programme, and later lost his job. His offence? Delivering a measured sermon in his school’s…
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What the decriminalisation of abortion really means in practice
12 June 2025Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy have each tabled amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill – New Clause 1 and New Clause 20 – aiming to fully decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. As Christians, we believe every human being bears God’s image and has inherent dignity from conception to natural death. Jesus’ own conception affirms the value of both lives in pregnancy. Antoniazzi’s New Clause 1 amendment would disapply criminal law relating to sections 58 and 59 of the Offences…
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An update on the push for assisted suicide in Westminster and Scotland
19 May 2025Ultimately, only one amendment was put to a vote – Rebecca Paul’s proposal to allow hospices to opt out of providing assisted suicide. Despite all the talk of freedom, this amendment designed to give hospices a choice was voted down. It has become increasingly clear that this bill is not only flawed in principle – it is deeply problematic in practice. The same is also true of Scotland’s Assisted Dying Bill, and my colleague, Chris Ringland, provides an update on Tuesday’s vote below.
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Five things the church can do to support mothers in pregnancy crisis
15 May 2025Coming to terms with the pain caused by abortion – or the pressure of an unintended pregnancy – is never easy. But we have a Saviour who lived through this. Jesus was born to a Judean teenager in perhaps the most unexpected pregnancy in history! Mary faced shame, scorn, and accusations of unfaithfulness (Matthew 1:19). Yet God was with her, and He is with mothers and families today in their moments of crisis. I was recently encouraged by attending the Churches and Pregnancy Crisis Roundtable…
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