Call to suspend Bishop of Oxford from House of Lords for breach of Parliamentary code over abuse review findings

Jun 8, 2023 by Jill

from Premier:

A member of the Church of England’s General Synod has called for the Bishop of Oxford to be suspended from the House of Lords. It follows a recent review which found Rt Rev Steven Croft had failed to act on a disclosure of abuse.

Martin Sewell, who is also a former child protection lawyer, has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, alleging the Bishop’s behaviour wasn’t ethical and that by continuing to sit on the benches he erodes confidence in the Second Chamber.

Martin Sewell told Premier why he’s chosen to make the complaint now:

“Certain bishops of the Church of England enjoy the role of Lord Spiritual and it’s part of our Constitution. They are there because they are supposed to lead the nation in terms of moral guidance and to have a moral compass and to guide those in Parliament as to right and wrong. Therefore, if one has serious questions about such a leader, I think it’s only right to put it to the independent person who is the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for the House of Lords.”

In May the Humphreys Review into the case of the late vicar Trevor Devamanikkam who raped a 16 year old boy in his care, found that Rt Rev Steven Croft did not act upon information after the incident was reported to him.

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