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Vol. 777 Friday No. 74 2 December 2016 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS National Life: Shared Values and Public Policy Priorities Motion to Take Note.......................................................................................................415 Aid Reviews Statement........................................................................................................................452 National Life: Shared Values and Public Policy Priorities Motion to Take Note (Continued) .................................................................................456 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2016-12-02 The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2016, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 415 Shared Values/Public Policy Priorities[2 DECEMBER 2016] Shared Values/Public Policy Priorities 416 House of Lords of hospitality, generosity and welcome lead to a turning inward that strangles the hope of the common good. Friday 2 December 2016 There is no better example of the expression of good values than in Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan, a 10 am story deeply embedded in our collective understanding of what it means to be a good citizen and which Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Chester. reminds us that our values have emerged not from a vacuum but from the resilient and eternal structures of our religious, theological, philosophical and ethical National Life: Shared Values and Public heritage. It reinforces a Christian hope of our values: Policy Priorities those of a generous and hospitable society rooted in Motion to Take Note history, committed to the common good and solidarity in the present, creative, entrepreneurial, courageous, sustainable in our internal and external relations, and 10.05 am values that are a resilient steward of the hopes and Moved by The Archbishop of Canterbury joys of future generations in our country and around the world—hopes that are not exclusive, but for all. That this House takes note of the shared values That is what our values have been when at their best. underpinning our national life and their role in Burke famously wrote that society is a, shaping public policy priorities. “partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be The Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I am born”. most grateful to the usual channels for making this He articulates an idea of loyalty—loyalty to those debate possible. I should also like to thank noble who have sacrificed much in the past for us to be Lords who have made the time and taken the trouble where we are, to our fellow citizens and to those whose to attend today in considerable numbers, the Minister, lives will stem from our lives. Speaking of loyalty the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, and those who look transforms the abstract idea of values,shared or otherwise, after us so well in this House. In case noble Lords are into relationships and practices. In our schools, children wondering what the Motion is, I decided to change it are taught that fundamental British values are democracy, at the last minute. It reads: the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect “The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury to move that this for and tolerance of those with different faiths and House takes note of the shared values underpinning our national beliefs and for those without faith. These values and life and their role in shaping public policy priorities”. our present situation seem increasingly disconnected It will be an especial pleasure to hear maiden speeches from our historical narratives, whatever the values of from the noble Baroness, Lady Bertin, and the noble these fundamental British values are—and they are Lord, Lord McInnes of Kilwinning. The noble Baroness considerable—and they are not properly embedded in brings her knowledge of communications, issues of the heritage of our country. disability among children and education. The noble Historians such as Diarmaid MacCulloch speak of Lord will enable us to have a wider view of issues in religion being, Scotland. The UK, especially perhaps England, is a pragmatic “a force that shaped the English soul”. country with a bias towards the empirical over the To apply a revisionist secularism to our notions of theoretical. Not for us the cries of “liberty, equality identity inhibits the ability to reassert the deep values and fraternity”, to be followed by years of bloodshed reflected in a common history: those that show what to ensure true fraternity was established. Rather, ours makes for virtue and of what is good in absolute and is an untidiness of cumulative reforms and changes, permanent terms. It is what Aslan in CS Lewis’ Narnia worked out in practice through the highways and called the “deep magic” of the system. It is in these byways of our constitution. We relish the irony of a deep values and loyalties that we find who we are, and constitution that works in practice but never could in by their change we see what we should be. Fundamental theory. Great times of change in mood and culture British values have certainly developed out of these demand from us a reimagining of what we are about deep values, but if they are not grounded in an as a nation. As we move into a post-Brexit world, understanding of how we came to be who we are, they alongside the other events that buffet and deflect us, will remain an insubstantial vision with which to carry unless we ground ourselves in a clear course and the weight of the challenges of the 21st century. widely accepted practices, loyalties and values—what I That is because the right to life, liberty, the rule of will call values in this speech—we will just go with the law and robust democratic government does not come wind. cheaply, nor is it held lightly. The roots of our freedom The catalyst for attempting to codify our shared in this country are deeply embedded within our British national values—what the Government have called constitutional and civic life because their foundation “fundamental British values”—is the threat of violent lies within the shared scriptural inheritance of all our extremism in our country and, to a lesser extent, faith traditions. Democracy is not in and of itself the questions about immigration and integration, inequality final answer to things, nor is the rule of law. Martin and our role in the world. But values built on feelings Luther King and Desmond Tutu did not accept the of threat and fear can lead us down a dangerous path. final authority of the rule of law when the law was Practices and loyalties that are not grounded in values unjust. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not accept the final 417 Shared Values/Public Policy Priorities[LORDS] Shared Values/Public Policy Priorities 418 [THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY] be important, but if we spend all our energy on authority of the rule of law, democratically passed in a preventing bad ideologies, whether religious or political, democratically elected assembly, over issues of German- I fear we will neglect the far more transformative Jewish citizens when the law was manifestly evil. response required to build a convincing vision for our We live in easier and happier times, but there is still national life. In short, we need a more beautiful and debate over freedom of speech and an increasingly better common narrative that shapes and inspires us anxious approach to tolerance. Alongside the nation’s with a common purpose, a vaulting national ambition, seasonal debate about the true meaning of Christmas, not a sense of division and antagonism both domestically we have seen the return of questions about the boundaries and internationally. We need a narrative that speaks to of free speech for Christians and those of other or no the world of bright hope and not mere optimism, let faith. Unsurprisingly, I am very much in favour of alone simple self-interest. That will enable us to play a speaking openly but sensitively, as the Prime Minister powerful, hopeful and confident role around the world, has both supported and done recently in her own resisting the turn inward that will leave us alone in the workplace. Our values are very deeply rooted, but are darkness, despairing and vulnerable. also necessarily continually reinterpreted, especially in We have seen this hope in our best developments as times of change, such as now. That, by itself, is a huge a nation, historically through advances in housing, challenge in the context of ever-increasing diversity public health and education.

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