A seat in the House of Lords isnt God-given. Its time parliament ejected all the bishops | Sandi Toksvig

Scrapping automatic places for a minority religion is as good a place as any to start with reform of the upper house

On Thursday, MPs will debate the automatic right of 26 Church of England bishops to sit in the House of Lords – 26 bishops who can sit, speak and vote in our parliament on every law that is passed. My views are well known: given the bishops’ steadfast opposition to same-sex marriages, I am calling for their removal. It’s time for parliament to reflect and represent our diverse and modern society.

There are only two countries in the world where representatives of the state religion automatically get a seat in the legislature: the UK and Iran. Obviously, there are fundamental differences between the two countries and in the religious representatives’ views, but it is symbolic all the same. How can it be that our democratic system draws parallels with an Islamic theocracy?

Sandi Toksvig is a patron of Humanists UK

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iuCHa7U