House of Lords

The Archbishop of Canterbury has an active role in the UK Parliament, as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual who sit on the Bishop's Bench in the House of Lords.

• 12 February 2009
  Archbishop's speech at House of Lords Debate - Good Childhood Inquiry Report
  The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams spoke at the House of Lords 'Children: Good Childhood Inquiry Report Debate'. Moved By The Lord Bishop of Leicester, the debate called attention to the publication of the Good Childhood Inquiry report.
• 25 April 2008
  Archbishop calls to protect the poorest from the effects of economic downturn
  The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, hosted a debate at the House of Lords in which he called on the government to do more to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from the likely consequences of an economic downturn.
• 06 February 2008
  Archbishop Criticises 'Indefensible' Treatment of Young People in Prison
  The Archbishop of Canterbury has called upon the government to look critically at the use of strip-searching and prison segregation units for children in the criminal justice system.
• 15 January 2008
  Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill
  The Archbishop attended the first day in the Lords of the Report Stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. He spoke during the debate on a government amendment to change the name of 'inter-species' embryos to 'human-admixed' embryos. In doing so, he joined many Peers, including Lord Alton and Lord Tebbit who had expressed concerns about embryo research involving the mixing of human and animal elements. Throughout the passage of the Bill, concerns on this issue and others relating to 'saviour siblings', the impact on fatherhood and the need for a National Commission on Bioethics, had been raised many times by the Lords Spiritual.
• 28 March 2007
  House of Lords Speech Opposing 'Super Casinos'
  The Archbishop spoke in the debate on gambling and super casinos and, along with the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Bishop of Peterborough, voted for an amendment tabled by Lord Clement Jones to reject the order to grant casino licences in their proposed form. The amendment was carried after a vote.
• 19 May 2006
  The Churches Role in the Civic Life of the Nation : House of Lords Debate
  On Friday 19th May 2006 the Archbishop of Canterbury called a debate in the House of Lords on: "the contribution of the role of the churches in the civic life of towns and cities, the churches' partnership with other bodies and the part they play in addressing the problems of deprivation". In this well-attended debate, many peers spoke of the work being done by churches and people of faith across the country to build community life and fight deprivation. The full text of the Archbishop's opening and closing speeches are reproduced below:
• 12 May 2006
  Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill
  The Archbishop spoke in the debate in the House of Lords on Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, on 12th May 2006. The Archbishop and other Lords Spiritual opposed the Bill and the House voted by a margin of nearly 2-1 to prevent the Bill progressing any further.
• 15 February 2006
  Chaplaincy in Immigration Detention Centres
  During oral questions in the House of Lords on February 15th 2006 Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government 'whether they have any proposals to introduce further measures to prevent suicide and self-harm at immigration detention centres.' The Archbishop asked a supplementary question on chaplaincy provision:
• 02 February 2005
  Debate on Africa, Millennium Development Goals and Causes of Conflict
  The House of Lords debated Lord Hannay of Chiswick's motion "to call attention to the report to the United Nations by the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, the Millennium Development Goals Review, and to the causes of conflict in Africa; and to move for Papers."
• 26 March 2004
  Criminal justice - the social purpose of sentencing
  The Archbishop of Canterbury called his own debate in the House of Lords on criminal justice and sentencing, on March 26th, 2004. The following are his opening and closing remarks
• 06 October 2003
  Tribute to Lord Williams of Mostyn
  
• 26 March 2003
  Children and Parents
  The Archbishop of Canterbury made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on Lord Northbourne's motion "to call attention to the role of parents in providing for the needs of the nation's children in the 21st century and to the case for making available more encouragement and support for parents; and to move for Papers." The full text of the Archbishop's speech is reproduced here.
• 12 March 2003
  Archbishop takes seat in House of Lords
  Archbishops of Canterbury sit on the Bishops bench in the House of Lords, the UK's Upper Parliamentary chamber. Dr Williams took his seat in the House some three weeks after his Enthronement.