It’s official…
At the Privy Council held at Buckingham Palace on 18 December, an Order was made declaring the Archbishopric of Canterbury vacant with effect from the seventh day of January 2025.
Ritual slaughter
On Monday, Daniel Zeichner, Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, answered a Written Question from Gregory Stafford (Con, Farnham and Bordon), “To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that halal products are clearly marked on food labelling” as follows:
“There are no regulations that require the labelling of halal meat, but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government respects religious freedoms and expects the industry, whether food producer or food outlet, to provide consumers with all the information they need to make informed choices.”
The current Government guidance for ritual slaughter without pre-stunning is here. In response to a petition in the last Parliament calling for a ban, the then Government responded that:
“The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter. However, we are committed to upholding the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs…”
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill
On Wednesday, the Commons passed the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill. It extends the provisions of the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 by five years.
Cousin marriage again
On Thursday, in answer to a written question from Richard Holden (Con, Basildon and Billericay) asking whether the Church of England “plans to amend the Table of Kindred and Affinity to exclude first cousins from marriage”, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha De Cordova, replied as follows:
“The ‘Table of Kindred and Affinity’ is part of the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer can be changed by a Measure from the General Synod of the Church of England, which would come to Parliament for approval in the usual manner. The Church of England has no plans currently to change the text.”
“Protecting Built Heritage”
The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced an inquiry into “Protecting Built Heritage”. It invites responses to the following questions:
- What are the most significant challenges facing owners and operators of built heritage assets, and how are they affecting what those sites can offer? What interventions are needed to prevent the managed decline of heritage assets on publicly-owned land? What can the Government do to make it easier for communities or local businesses to take ownership of historic buildings?
- How effective are the current funding and finance models for built heritage? What should long-term public funding for the sector look like?
- What role does built heritage play in the regeneration of local areas and in contributing to economic growth and community identity? How can heritage buildings be supported to increase energy efficiency and contribute to the Government’s net zero targets?
- What are the financial, regulatory and practical barriers to preserving built heritage? What policy changes are needed to make restoring historic buildings easier and less expensive?
- What policies would ensure that the UK workforce has the right skills to maintain our heritage assets?
The call for evidence closes on 3 February.
“Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est” [*]
Each year since 2013, in the seasonal spirit of the King William’s College Quiz we have posted a quiz concerning recent events in law and religion, many of which had been featured in our posts. As an alternative to our annual end-of-year quiz, in 2024 – The year in straplines we have compiled a list of twenty-two straplines taken from the weekly posts in 2024, which provide a week-on-week snapshot of the events throughout the year. Just as we have been providing answers to our Annual Quizzes, a glossary of the now more obscure comments will be posted on 30 December 2024.
[*] The strapline on each year’s quiz: “Knowing where you can find something is, after all, the greatest part of learning”.
Quick links
- Ecclesiastical Law Society: December Newsletter.
And finally…
A very strange question for written answer in the Commons: Jim Shannon (DUP, Strangford) asked the Foreign Secretary “whether he has had discussions with the Holy See on the future of the Tridentine Mass at the Chartres pilgrimage in France”. To which the Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, replied: “This is an internal matter for the Catholic Church”.
No surprise there – but presumably in order not to give Mr Shannon a total bum’s rush, he carried on: “We continue to engage the Holy See regularly bilaterally and in multilateral fora on areas of mutual interest. Most recently, on 27 November, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner met Cardinal Parolin, with whom she discussed homelessness, inter-faith dialogue and climate.”
It’s all changed since Frank worked there – there used to be a rule that questions had to relate to the administrative responsibilities of HMG. Ah well…
AND A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS
