Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

The hon. Gentleman asks why the bishops should be treated differently. The reason is simple: they are in a completely different position to every other member of the other place. Unlike every other member of the House of Lords, Church of England archbishops and bishops may already be permanently removed from the Chamber under a statutory framework for dealing with misconduct. They are in a different position from the members of all the other professions that the hon. Gentleman mentioned. They are also the only Members who may resign from the House. The Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 provides that a bishop who commits misconduct may have his conduct investigated and referred for a hearing and determination at the court of the Vicar General. The court may direct the removal of the bishop from the House of Lords. If a bishop has been convicted of a criminal offence and receives a sentence of imprisonment, he may be removed from his office at the discretion of the archbishop, without that procedure being engaged. A bishop may also resign by giving up his diocese, which would again lead to the automatic loss of his seat in the House of Lords. So we do not need to provide for bishops in the way proposed, and nor would it be appropriate to do so. The bishops are members of the House of Lords by virtue of their position within the Church of England, because of the unique place the Church has in our constitution. I know that the hon. Gentleman and his party do not want it to have that place, but it does have it. As members of the Church of England, bishops are, first and foremost, subject to the disciplinary sanctions provided by the Church. It is possible for the Church to remove such members under its misconduct provisions quickly and easily. The provisions on removal of members of the House of Lords in part 3 of this Bill are primarily concerned with supporting the House in the disciplining of its members, by providing sanctions for misconduct. The provisions also address the needs of those peers who wish to resign from the House. These are valuable and welcome provisions—I am sure that the public will agree—but we have no need to extend them to cover the conduct of the bishops. I hope that that reassures the hon. Gentleman and that he will seek to withdraw this amendment.