Bishops should keep their seats in the House of Lords, a committee of MPs and peers recommends.
According to the BBC, the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform also recommends that the number of bishops in the House of Lords should be reduced from 26 to 12.
If the recommendation is accepted by the Government, it will continue a tradition in British politics going back 700 years.
Secularists are campaigning for the removal of bishops from the Lords on the basis that they do not reflect British society and are undemocratic.
At the Church of England’s General Synod in February, the Bishop of Leicester defended bishops in the House of Lords, saying that they were a “key voice” for social justice and the poor.
The Rt Rev Tim Stevens said that beyond the Lords spiritual, the voices speaking up for the poor in Parliament were “few and far between”.
Plans to reform the House of Lords into a largely elected second chamber are due to be published by the Government in May.
-
Palm Sunday: the triumphal entry and its meaning for us today
-
The glaring absences from the Archbishop of Canterbury's installation
-
Päivi Räsänen 'shocked and profoundly disappointed' after being convicted over pamphlet
-
Finland has shot itself in the foot in convicting Päivi Räsänen
-
On the Iftar in Trafalgar Square
-
Bible Society withdraws 'Quiet Revival' report as it admits data was 'faulty'
Most Popular
News
Three words that changed history: ‘Jesus became sin'
As we enter Easter, we want to centre our attention on the significance of Christ’s work of redemption for all of humanity.
Gloucester Cathedral to unveil stunning new pipe organ
Gloucester Cathedral has said that this year’s Organ Festival will be extra special, as it will see the unveiling of its brand new organ.
Religious freedom violations increasing in Nicaragua
The situation has declined since 2018.
Päivi Räsänen calls for repeal of hate speech laws across Europe after shock conviction
All copies of a decades old pamphlet are to be destroyed after Finland's former Minister of the Interior was convicted of hate speech - even though the law that convicted her did not exist at the time the pamphlet was published.