Commission report features in House of Lords debate

Opening yesterday's House of Lords debate on social policy, the Lord Bishop of Leicester pointed to the findings of the Inquiry Commission as published in the report, Making Good Society. Echoing the words of the Commission, the Bishop highlighted the momentous opportunity we have at present of moving from an age of ‘me’ to an age of ‘we’.

The debate was led by Rt Rev Tim Stevens, who is Convener of the Lord Spiritual. The Bishop’s address to the House preceded the maiden speech of Lord Wei, the newly appointed government adviser to the Coalition’s ‘Big Society’ project. 

Bishop Stevens argued that we need to develop a strong partnership between government and civil society in a response to the triple crisis of our time - financial, political and environmental. In his call to government, the Bishop declared that: 

“A new kind of partnership is possible, and indeed crucial: one that is not based on an abdication of the state's responsibilities but accompanied by an understanding that a real, not cosmetic, devolution of power will be required, together with an end to the kind of control that reduces volunteers to the status of unpaid servants of a centralised state. The qualities of altruism and selflessness upon which local action depends are forged not by the state but by the numerous communities and networks in which people discover who they are through common bonds with others. They need room to breathe.” 

To read the full debate click here. 

To watch the debate click here.