Black Bishops Matter: Sentamu’s peerage has been paused for a reason
by Archbishop Cranmer:
There’s been a lot of noise about John Sentamu’s peerage – he hasn’t got one, and the Telegraph, Sunday Times and Guardian aren’t happy about it. It is customary for all outgoing archbishops to be elevated on retirement, but the former Archbishop of York remains out of Parliament for reasons which are causing some dismay in the media. Why has he been ‘snubbed’? Don’t black bishops matter? Is it institutional racism? Is Boris Johnson racist? Is he less worthy than the Prime Minister’s brother Jo Johnson? Is it simply No.10 incompetence?
Simon Woolley, founder of Operation Black Vote, told the Sunday Times: “John Sentamu is a hero and a role model not just to black Britain but to Great Britain. The fact that he has not been afforded a peerage is nothing short of scandalous. Given the deluge of peerages to friends and family, of which not one was black, I sincerely hope this is an oversight that will be rapidly corrected.” And the chorus of condemnation continued:
[…] HOLAC is the House of Lords Appointments Commission, whose function is “to vet for propriety” nominations to the House of Lords. And John Sentamu’s governance and oversight of cases of historic sexual abuse are still currently being investigated. IICSA has reported, and there was some criticism of his (in)action, though nothing which many would say justifies the withholding of a peerage (opinions on this will vary, but quite a few nominated peers have something nasty in the woodshed). And then there’s the case of the Bishopthorpe flood and the missing hard drive. The fact is that questions remain: here, here, here and here.
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