Bishop of Blackburn says levelling up must work in final Lords speech

Bishop Julian was appointed to the House as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual in 2020

The outgoing Bishop of Blackburn has used his final House of Lords speech to emphasise the need for the government's levelling up agenda to work.

The Right Reverend Julian Henderson, the leader of the Church of England in Lancashire, will retire in mid-July.

He said "reducing gaps in our society in terms of wealth and aspiration" was something "we in the North West are desperate to see taken forward".

He also said a "recognised place for faith in our national life" was needed.

Bishop Julian, who took over the diocese in 2013 and entered the House of Lords in February 2020, spoke as part of a debate on a report into the "stresses upon the Union of the United Kingdom".

Emphasising the importance of the current "levelling up agenda", he said government support for the Eden North project in Morecambe Bay was "one example of what will bring massive transformation, in terms of jobs and the growth of the local economy in Lancashire".

In April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised funding for the project would be made available as long as a "proper business case" was submitted to the government.

'Crucial underpinning'

The bishop also highlighted the lack of reference in the report to the "impact that the faith and charity sector might play in strengthening life and co-operation across the United Kingdom".

He said the church had "played a key role in this nation" in the past and though the presence of "strong other faith communities in the UK challenges that Christian heritage... I do not want us to lose a formal and recognised place for faith in our national life".

He added that he believed the church provided "a crucial underpinning of who we are in being fully human, body, mind and soul".

The 67-year-old added it had been "a joy to live and serve" in Lancashire and "as with all places where clergy serve, a bit of my heart will remain there".

Bishop Julian was appointed to the House as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual - the body of bishops which has sat in the chamber for centuries - in 2020 and has spoken in support of those living in deprivation in the county, on ending inequality, the environment, rural communities, and law and order.

He also hosted the visit of the Queen to Blackburn Cathedral in April 2014 to distribute the historic Maundy money.