Simon Says ...

Synod began, more or less, in silence as we remembered the 21 Coptic Christians martyred in Libya for their Christian faith on the anniversary of their death.   An important moment.   There was little silence thereafter, as we moved into the normal pattern of debates and presentations.   February was a relatively short Synod, across three days.   It was the first meeting of the newly elected Synod other than the short gathering for its inauguration last November.   This means that there were lots of maiden speeches, lots of new voices to listen to. It means that we the newly elected Prolocutors of Canterbury and York (the chairs of the House of Clergy) and the Chair and Vice-Chair of the House of Laity were presented to us.   It feels like the new Synod is still being run in. Business started with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Presidential Address .   This was mostly about the Primate’s meeting, and was clear and helpful.   He spoke of...

This my speech on the debate on Benefits Sanctions in the General Synod this morning.  Thanks to my colleague Stella Collishaw for drawing attention to the reasarch that I mention: Thank you chair. I welcome this debate and thank the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales for bringing it to synod.  It has been a privilege to hear stories from around the country about benefit sanctions and their effects on the most vulnerable. In Derbyshire we too have found this to be a problematic area.   Research from Rural Action Derbyshire has highlighted this problem in our area too.  That research suggests a welcome drop in the numbers of people being sanctioned in Derbyshire - from a high point of 20% of claimants in some local authorities in May 2013 to a lower, but still quite high level of 7% of all claimants by the end of last year. This should not be understood as a motion that is critical of the Government's welfare policy.  Far from it.  The motion...