Westminster round-up: Making sense of it all

This break provides time for the Westminster team to reflect on the last six months and prepare and respond to calls for evidence from parliamentary committees and statutory bodies in August. 

The advocacy work here at the Evangelical Alliance is built around two core pillars. The first is to contribute Biblical wisdom as policymakers introduce new laws and update policy guidance across the UK. The second is to educate evangelical Christians on the political and cultural changes in society so that they can better navigate these with Christ-like confidence and clarity. 

It’s hard to believe that it was only a year ago when Conservative Party members were voting for a new leader. Since then and a subsequent election in October 2022, that installed Rishi Sunak as the new Conservative Party leader and prime minister, parliament has returned to some level of normality.

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In the last six months, the prime minister has set out five priorities, one being to introduce new legislation to ​‘stop the boats’. 

On Monday, 17 July, members of the House of Lords discussed late into the evening plans to reintroduce amendments that would restrict the time limit on how long children can remain in detention. As well as improve modern slavery protections for those trafficked into the UK. A majority vote against these amendments now means King Charles III will formally agree to make the bill an Act of Parliament.

The Illegal Migration Act 2023 will provide the home secretary with legal duty to detain and remove those who enter the UK through irregular routes since 7 March 2023. Back in March, we set out our policy concerns and opposition to this bill, stating that we believed it placed politics before the dignity of people, particularly where unaccompanied children, pregnant women and Christians fleeing persecution from countries like Afghanistan and Iran were concerned. 

As the bill receives royal assent there is still an outstanding ruling on the legality of the government’s Rwandan returns agreement. We will continue to keep members informed of the Supreme Court ruling and policy developments on the different detention facilities across the country.

There has been so much political and cultural unrest across the nations recently, that it is hard to believe anything good is going on in Parliament and Whitehall, but it is.

I am often encouraged when I read and reflect on the prophet Isaiah’s words in chapter 43 where he says, ​“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”. These words were written during Israel’s darkest times and yet it speaks renewal and hope. In Christ, we can believe that God can and will restore our politics.

Below are three encouraging policy developments we have seen in the last six months.

The Colin Bloom Review called on the UK government to improve its engagement with faith groups, following consultation back in 2019.

Since the report’s release our team have hosted and/​or attended several private meetings with the government’s faith minister, advisers to Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow faith minister and MPs from across different political parties, all keen to learn and engage more with the evangelical church in the UK as they each develop policy positions.

Here at the Evangelical Alliance, we want to ensure momentum is not lost and that key recommendations to improve government’s engagement with faith groups become manifesto commitments ahead of the next general election.

We were encouraged that government ministers, Whitehall officials, embassy officials and shadow opposition ministers accepted our invitation to attend the National Windrush Service at Southwark Cathedral on Thursday, 22 June 2023. 

The thanksgiving service brought together over 400 individuals to honour the legacy of the Windrush generation and hear how younger voices are building on its legacy.

Lord Murray (home office spokesperson in the Lords) and Baroness Berridge (Conservative life peer) both attended the thanksgiving service and two weeks later spoke positively in a Windrush generation 75^th anniversary debate in the House of Lords about the role of the church to heal past wounds and encourage racial reconciliation today.

The role of parliamentary committees is to hold the government to account and to host topical inquiries. The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is one of parliament’s most important committees because its membership is made up of both MPs and peers and because its recommendations cut across different policy issues and government departments. 

JCHR’s current inquiry into human rights in the workplace is of particular interest to us because it is examining whether domestic laws adequately protect freedom of religion or belief in the workplace. 

We submitted written evidence to this inquiry back in March and will update members on its findings in the Autumn.

• Wisdom and good engagement with the Government Equalities Office, as it introduces draft legislation to end conversion practices, expected in the Autumn.

• The imminent Relationships, Sex and Health Education review in England. We will be submitting a written response in September, bringing together members and parents’ feedback to our survey

• Members on the department for health and social care committee as it concludes its inquiry into legalising assisted dying/​assisted suicide. To legalise assisted dying will disproportionately affect those living in poverty and People of Colour due to healthcare disparities based on race. Read Assisted Dying Inquiry: important things you need to know.

• The King’s Speech, expected in early November. This, we believe, will be the government’s final legislative programme ahead of a general election.