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Unintended Consequences of the Protect Duty

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  A government consultation reveals some significant concerns for churches and places of worship.  As chair of the Faith Sector Panel of the London Resilience Forum I have a lot to do with London’s Faith Communities’ response to terrorism (see here for my role). So it was with interest that I heard that there was to be a consultation on a new “ Protect Duty ” to “make the public safer at publicly accessible locations.” The proposals follow campaigning by Figen Murray, whose son Martyn was tragically killed in the Manchester Arena attack , to introduce “Martyn’s Law” which aims to legislate for a duty on those who own or manage publicly accessible places to take actions to reduce the threat of terrorism. The ‘simple common sense security’ for which Figen Murray calls must be right; but the legislation now being consulted on causes considerable concern. The proposed legislation has very significant unintended consequences for places of worship. In my view it needs to be...
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The Protect Duty - Respond to the Standard Tier Consultation

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The Protect Duty is a new statutory responsibility which will impact Churches and Places of Worship. Responses to this consultation are needed . The deadline for responses is 18 March 2024 What is all this about? The consultations and parliamentary process for the Bill to implement a Protect Duty (" Martyn's Law ") have made a difference. Changes have been introduced to mitigate the severe unintended consequences of the original proposals. As it was they would have given terrorism a win by making things very difficult for churches and places of worship. I set out why that was here . It is now really important to respond to the consultation on the impact of the proposals as they now stand so that the changes for the better are not lost and so that the Bill can be improved further. Government needs to be clear about the impact of the Duty on Churches and other places of worship The more individual responses there are the better. Please respond yourself, and ask others in ...
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Happy Anniversary

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It is a year today since it was announced that Bishop Sarah was to be the new Bishop of London. As we scurried through the passages under S Paul’s cathedral and to the Chapter House for the ‘reveal’ I was still working out what it would be like to work, as a traditionalist, with a Bishop whose sacramental ministry I cannot receive. I can say unequivocally that it has been good. At the time I posted here that I thought we could make it work and if we can make it work, we can bring a gift to the whole church. Nothing in the time since has given me any reason to change my mind on that. There has been much said about mutual flourishing in the Church of England and a determination to ensure that the hopes can be turned into reality. I think Bishop Sarah and I have demonstrated a little bit of what that reality might mean. The willingness of the Bishop to live and breathe her commitment to making everyone’s ministry flourish, including mine and that of other traditionalists and...
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