Credit: Nicolas Brigante, Unsplash
Stephen has criticised ministers for taking the decision to close places of worship during the 4-week lockdown, without consulting its own Faith Groups Taskforce.
Places of worship – including non-religious buildings used for religious services – have closed from 5 November. They many remain open for private prayer, funerals, for the broadcasting of services, and for the purpose of providing voluntary services such as food banks.
The government created a places of worship task force in May to discuss lockdown regulations with senior faith leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief Rabbi, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and representative from the Hindu Council UK, City Sikhs, and the British Board of Scholars and Imams. The Taskforce were not met with in advance of the announcement on 31 October of the new lockdown regulations.
Writing to the Prime Minister, Stephen outlined his concerns that the Taskforce were not consulted on the ban on public worship. He cited a letter from the Taskforce to the Prime Minister in which the group said the government had overlooked the workplaces of worship had made in ensuring they are COVID secure. The task force also questioned what scientific evidence there was to justify the ban.
Speaking about the ban Stephen said, “The move to ban public worship shows a lack of appreciation for the importance of places of worship to our communities. I know this is a view held by many people in East Ham – I have received a huge number of emails this week from constituents outlining their frustrations at being unable to attend their regular place of worship.”
“It is deeply troubling that the government made this announcement without consulting its own Taskforce. I have asked the Prime Minister why it was not consulted and have requested to know what scientific evidence was used when making the decision to close places of worship.”