Bishops risk becoming “politicians that wear mitres” because of their interventions in the Government’s migration plans, ministers have been told.
Conservative MP Chris Loder said it is “damaging” for senior Anglican clergymen in the House of Lords to become embroiled in political debates.
It comes after peers inflicted a total of 20 defeats against the Government’s controversial plans to tackle the small boats crisis.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, spearheaded one of the routs with a cross-party demand for the Government to draw up a 10-year strategy for collaborating internationally to tackle both the refugee crisis, which is driving unauthorised migration to the UK, and human trafficking.
Downing Street said it will not be deterred from pushing ahead with the Illegal Migration Bill, which is now heading for a stand-off in the Commons.
We are increasingly seeing bishops in the Church of England becoming politicians that wear mitres— Chris Loder
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on whether bishops should be guaranteed seats in the House of Lords, Mr Loder said the Church of England has “a critical role” to play in bringing people together.
He added: “I think we need to just reflect on that when we start to hear from Members of the House of Lords, who are bishops, their very clear political view.”
The Conservative MP, who is a church warden at a parish in his West Dorset constituency, continued: “For me, we are increasingly seeing bishops in the Church of England becoming politicians that wear mitres.
“That is a decision indeed for the Church of England; that is a decision in many ways for individual bishops.
“But I just want to contribute to this debate by saying I think that is a very damaging thing for the Church of England to do.”
The debate was led by SNP MP Tommy Sheppard, who chairs the humanist all-party parliamentary group and believes it is unfair that the Church of England has a guaranteed role in Parliament.
As Mr Sheppard opened the debate, Tory MP Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) said: “He will know yesterday in the Lords there were a number of amendments to the Government’s legislation.
“I suspect he agrees with the principle of those amendments. He and I differ on that and he probably also agrees with me that the Archbishop who moved them is a very distinguished member of that House.
“But does he share my sense of unease that somebody who has not been elected or appointed, and is merely there in his capacity as a bishop, is there potentially changing the law of this country?”
Mr Sheppard agreed this was at the “core of the argument” he was making.
Ahead of the debate, the Edinburgh East MP told the PA news agency: “I don’t think people should be represented in the Lords on the basis of their religious beliefs at all.
“We should have a secular legislature where people are either elected or, if they are appointed, they are appointed because of their expertise in general.
“That is not to say that people of faith can’t be in the legislature, either in the House of Commons or the House of Lords. Of course they could and they should.
“But it is to say they get no special fast track to that seat, there is no reserved place for them in the House of Lords as there are at the moment for 26 bishops.”
The 2021 census was the first time fewer than half the population of England and Wales described themselves as Christian, with a growing number saying they followed no religion.
Mr Sheppard said Parliament needs to be aware of the change in public sentiment.
But Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart told MPs a reform of the House of Lords to remove the bishops is “not something that the Government will be engaging in”.
A Church of England spokesperson said bishops who serve in the House of Lords provide “an independent, non-partisan voice in parliamentary debates, bringing an ethical and spiritual perspective that is also informed by their roles as key figures in local civil society”.
They added: “Their presence in Parliament not only reflects our constitutional arrangement, with an established church, but also provides an ethical and faith perspective on the business of the day, informed by the Church’s role as a Christian presence in all communities of England.”
