Edward Skidelsky

Defenders of the Anglican establishment often cite as one of its benefits the ‘Bishops’ Bench’ in the House of Lords. This body of 26 prelates installed by historic right in our upper chamber represents, so they say, a Christian voice at the heart of our legislature – a set up unique among modern western democracies. How true are these claims? Shortly before he died in April of this year, my father Lord Robert Skidelsky commissioned a little research into this question. He asked his invaluable assistant, Attila Mestehazy, to run through all 693 speeches delivered by the reverend Lords between 1 January 2024 and 19 September 2025, looking out especially for words and arguments associated with Christianity. The results were dismaying, if not entirely unexpected.

Earlier this week at HMS President – the Royal Navy Reserve’s base on the Thames – the government’s free-speech tsar, Arif Ahmed, delivered a quiet but unmistakable warning to the higher-education sector. Academic freedom, he told an audience of academics, politicians and policymakers gathered for a conference on the future of open inquiry, could not be regarded as secure merely because Parliament had legislated for it. It felt oddly appropriate that the message was delivered on the famous Tideway, just ‘downstream’ of Whitehall. At Durham University, ajob advert posted this month still contains requirements that appear to breach the new guidance At first glance, his claim might sound counter-intuitive.