A week of reviews and resignations rather than “hard law”

Second Church Estates Commissioner to stand down

On Monday Sir Tony Baldry, Conservative  MP for Banbury, announced that he has decided not to contest the seat in 2015. He is 64 and said he had decided to step down after “careful thought” and discussing the issue with his family:

“One of the consequences of now having five year fixed-term parliaments is that, if I succeed in being re-elected at the forthcoming general election, given my age, most people will assume that parliament will be my last.”

The point of this for readers of this blog is that he occupies the position of Second Church Estates Commissioner and  answers parliamentary questions on Church of England matters. He also steers Church of England legislation through the House of Commons and occasionally intervenes to give the C of E view on issues such as same-sex marriage.

The Second Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Government: who will succeed Tony Baldry depends, for a start, on who wins the next election – or maybe, given the vagaries of current electoral politics, which party manages to form a coalition.

Human rights – the continuing debate

On Monday The Guardian carried an excellent piece by Joshua Rosenberg: Human rights legislation in the UK: a cut-out-and-keep guide. He concludes (as do we and, more to the point, as does Dominic Grieve) that

“If we want to be sure we can make our own decisions on human rights in future without any risk that they will be overturned by a foreign court, the way forward is clear: we shall have to leave the Council of Europe – and the European Union”.

First thoughts: “If only we’d thought of that”. Second thoughts: “But far more people read The Guardian than read L&RUK…”. Continue reading →