At the last count, fewer than a million people worship regularly in the Church of England. I am one of those, having so far resisted the almost overmastering desire to extract myself from the Church’s increasing wokeness and ever closer conformance to – and infiltration by – the secular society it is meant to serve. My frustrations are usually vented by strident comments on social media and the occasional email calling individuals to task, but the straw which really threatens to break the camel’s back in my case is the Church’s obsession with ‘climate change’.
Why the Church of England is so vocal on a subject about which it clearly knows nothing is beyond me, but when it makes completely unsubstantiated statements in the public domain, easily capable of being refuted by facts, it is time to take action. One source of the Church’s outlandish statements in this regard is the Community of the Resurrection (CR) in Mirfield, West Yorkshire.
Most people – even many churchgoers – think Religious Communities died out forever in the Reformation, but they actually staged a comeback in the 19th Century and to this day there are vowed monks and nuns, many ordained to the Priesthood, living in Communities as part of the Church of England. I came to know the one at Mirfield and it was therefore a great disappointment to witness CR jump on the woke climate bandwagon and promulgate in its official publication, CR Review, what appeared to be climate facts but which, in reality, were nothing more than personal opinions – although this was never once made clear.
I endeavoured to call CR to account and the Community was gracious enough to include in its publication my rebuttal of one offending article, although radically edited. I hoped this would be an end to the matter but no, CR continued to pump out articles and videos making outrageous climate assertions. Each time these appeared I contacted the Community with detailed facts, evidencing the untruthfulness of the statements, but, unlike on that first occasion, the Community became unyielding, refusing to publish any retractions even though the Superior later admitted to me “we are not climatologists”.
Matters came to a head earlier this year when yet another article appeared in CR Review full of inaccuracies and clearly written to scaremonger and possibly to influence voting (the local elections were just around the corner). Yet again, I provided detailed evidence disproving each assertion and once more CR refused to recede from its position. Having reached deadlock, I decided it was necessary to escalate matters.
My initial approaches were to those holding some degree of responsibility for the Community, its doings and its members. However, neither the Archdeacon of Halifax nor the Bishop of Blackburn, Chair of the Advisory Council for Religious Communities in the Church of England, had the courtesy to reply. The Bishop of the Diocese in which CR resides, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, responded claiming that the Community was “not accountable” to him and making it apparent that his sympathies were entirely with the climate alarmists (unsurprising, given his own actions and public proclamations on climate matters). The appointed ‘Visitor’ to CR (a kind of overseer for the resolution of disputes), the Bishop of Lichfield, replied saying the matter lay outside his area of responsibility. Thus, the buck having been well and truly passed, the only route left to me was to raise a formal complaint against CR under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM).
With whom does such a complaint have to be lodged? The Diocesan Bishop. Yes, that meant the Bishop of Leeds, who originally said he had no accountability! Of course, I asked that he recuse himself because, in my view, he had already prejudged the matter. It appeared obvious to me, when he summarily dismissed my initial communication to him asking for help, that this Bishop is part of the Church’s groupthink on climate. I reasoned that he was never going to give me a fair hearing on this subject although, in truth, the chances of finding another suitable person in this woke Church who is not also part of the same groupthink are remote.
The Bishop chose not to recuse himself and pronounced his judgement. Interestingly, the fact that the Bishop of Leeds adjudged this matter apparently meant he did have jurisdiction after all. If he’d wanted to, he could have done something about my concerns from the outset before I was forced to utilise the formal CDM process.
The Bishop dismissed my complaint and gave three reasons.
First, he said it did not relate to Clergy discipline. This completely took me aback. If the matter of Ordained Priests, for whom the Bishop is responsible, repeatedly making untruthful statements in the public domain is not a matter for Clergy discipline then I don’t know what is.
Secondly, the Bishop said that it was not credible that a Priest “be disciplined for adhering to the policy and position of the Church of England on the matter of climate change”. He was effectively saying that because the Church happens to have made a policy on a subject (in this case on Net Zero and one which I believe to be completely erroneous and unscientific) then it is absolutely fine for Clergy to say anything they like echoing that policy, no matter how untruthful those statements might be.
Thirdly, the Bishop had clearly dismissed every single fact I used to counter the untruths in the article and its predecessors and justified this by making the bizarre statement that the facts in the case are actually “a matter of dispute and opinion”. This has to be the icing on the cake. That a Church of England Bishop genuinely believes factual, empirical and scientific evidence only happens to be somebody’s “opinion” is complete gibberish. A fact is a fact, capable of proof. Perhaps, after all, the Bishop isn’t really a Bishop and it is only his opinion that makes him think he is!
To say I was enraged by the Bishop’s dismissal and his outlandish reasons would be an understatement. He had not considered any other course of action open to him under the Measure or outside of it. These include, inter alia, an attempt to bring about reconciliation – which I would have welcomed – or giving advice or a warning to CR about its future behaviour. No, the case had been perfunctorily dismissed and the Church of England cabal had, as they always do, protected their own.
There is no right of reply to a Bishop dismissing a CDM allegation. The sole remaining option is to refer the matter to somebody called a ‘President of Tribunals’, setting out why one believes the Bishop’s dismissal was an incorrect decision. No further evidence can be submitted. So, as a last attempt to try and inject context, sanity and reality, I lodged my reasons – seven of them – with this grandiosely named personage. All the President (or, as it transpired in this case, the Deputy President) of Tribunals had to do was to refer the matter back to the Bishop and say, effectively, “you ought to think again”. That should have been a good enough steer for the Bishop. I therefore retained a shred of hope.
The Deputy President of Tribunals, who had the final say in the matter, turned out to be His Honour Judge David Turner KC. Hardly independent of the Church of England, he is a Licensed Lay Minster at the evangelical All Souls, Langham Place, acts as ‘Chancellor’ (essentially Judge in the Church Court) for the Diocese of Chester and has been closely involved in church litigation for many years. He ruled that the decision by the Bishop of Leeds to dismiss the case had been “plainly right” and went on to reveal some of his thinking behind his ruling.
Mr Turner referred to “the global climate emergency”, thereby presupposing that one actually exists (it doesn’t), wrote about climate legislation taking place elsewhere (a completely irrelevant point), climate being a “live issue” and a “public concern” (which it is only because of the wall-to-wall barracking by climate alarmists spouting their pseudo-science and unsubstantiated scaremongering) and, surprise surprise, the fact that the General Synod of the Church of England had voted to follow a “routemap for Net Zero carbon by 2030”.
The Deputy President of Tribunals really showed his true colours, though, when he quoted the long since debunked “97% of scientists” consensus nonsense. Mr Turner is clearly sold on this totally false regurgitation (the true percentage is 0.3) and on his belief that science works by consensus. Of course, if it is science it is not consensus and if it is consensus it is not science.
The Deputy President not once sought to open himself up to the possibility that the climate issues so beloved by the Church have never been based on provable, empirical science and clearly discounted all the evidence I submitted with my original complaint and my previous submissions (links to which I provided).
How is it that my facts are, in his eyes and those of the Bishop of Leeds, questionable and open to debate, whereas any so called facts used to support the Church of England in its ridiculous Net Zero policy are held to be sacrosanct?
In summary, Ordained Church of England Clergy have repeatedly made dubious statements in the public domain, the Bishop doesn’t care and believes facts are debatable and merely opinions (except, of course, those facts which suit him). The one person who might have steered the Bishop to a different conclusion has used his own belief in climate change nonsense to uphold the Bishop’s decision.
As the Church of England descends into a woke hell of its own making – and its absurd fixation on climate is just one manifestation of this – I wonder what the churchgoing statistics will be next time they are measured and whether they will, by then, be reduced by an additional one, i.e. me.
Kevin Sims has been scrutinising climate related issues for the past eight years and tries to help debunk false information promoted by the mainstream media and others on the subject.
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Wow!
We have waited a long time for someone in the Commons to find the backbone to make such a profound, well-researched and much needed statement. We now need the rest to check their offices to see if their backbones are hiding in a cupboard and if so drag them out and for once put them to use.
“the benefits of the vaccine are close to non-existent.”
“It is no surprise, when there is so much control by an entity (big Pharma) that has been described as ‘psychopathic’ for its profit-making conduct, that one analysis suggests that third most common cause of death globally after heart disease and cancer is the side-effects of prescribed medications, which were mostly avoidable.”
I suppose the likelihood is that the WEF puppets will duck and dive, go AWOL and hope that this speech will be forgotten by New Year, or engineer a suitable crisis to deflect attention elsewhere but the gauntlet has been laid down.
It is very rare I say this but,
Thank you Andrew Bridgen MP.
I am very much looking forward to the naming of the BHF merd and lots of publicity shaming yet another sham charidee.
I have just had a trawl through the BHF website. Very concerned for its staff. Full stream bloody woke. Interestingly it has enjoyed a very successful Scamdemic:
I cannot find where the income came from and it appears to be hidden within “donations and legacies.” How the hell did income increase by 148% in one year? It is difficult not to conclude that the additional monies must have arrived from the usual suspects – big pharma and Lord Bill, especially as they clearly divorced themselves from proper science with their readiness to adhere to the extremely dangerous ‘safe and effective’ narrative.
What a deplorable organisation.
From the Annual Accounts 2022 (chart, page 10):
The increase in net income principally reflected the significant bounce-back in retail trading, following the enforced closure through periods of lockdown of our shops and stores for much of the prior year and a record breaking year for legacy income.
https://www.bhf.org.uk/-/media/files/what-we-do/bhf-annual-report-2022.pdf?rev=cc73d5ab18314f8aa4d14440d4c320e6&hash=EE2F84E00B356C98419E65150702D68A
Along with increasing levels of poverty forcing people who didn’t before to use charity shops (big increase locally), perhaps the unusual and unexpected [sarc] increase in cardiac deaths is reaping benefits for them…
Thanks for that.
That research must be published too.
Thankfully, it has also just gained enormous impact and credibility.
In this paranoid world in which we live (sadly), I too salute Andrew Bridgen for his courage … but also feel this may be the start of “The Big Reveal” – whatever that is. Anyone?
I admire your optimism, but suspect the MSN will focus on Caulfield’s rebuttal rather than the meat of Bridgen’s speech!
I am not sure “optimism” is the right word in this context. My very limited understanding of The Big Reveal is that it is part of the strategy of the Global Elites (Gates, WEF et al). In order to instil despair and begin the moves towards civil unrest, certain disclosures would be made, which would reveal the fundamental breakdown in the system… but I don’t understand any more about the strategy.
I am not sure even where I heard about The Big Reveal…
And let it not be forgotten that the constant clamour from every “opposition” party in Parliament has been for “Sooner, Harder, Longer.”
Joined by a majority, perhaps, of Tory backbenchers.
There are none of them that have not been allerted to what has been going on, by some of their own constituents.
You don’t need more than just a simple fact of conspiracy to cover-up to start investigation. if there is no link (between the jabs and heart inflammation), what’s the motive? the public has to know. Let’s hope that eventually something will come out of it
I wonder how many MPs were in the chamber to hear this speech at 7.04pm yesterday evening.
I think there were about 3. Speaks volumes, but how demoralizing is that?
I’ve let my MP know he and his colleagues missed an important speech.
Kudos to Bridgen. An excellent speech despite the House being virtually empty (natch), and a couple of other MPs concurring with various points, needs to be spread far and wise. Also worth watching is Maria Caulfield MP’s rather rushed and scripted rebuttal – a truly classic example of The Narrative’s ‘jabs saved millions of lives/safe & effective’ BS plus other outright lies. Wonder how much she got for saying it. (From 19.25.22 – end):
https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/d0cc6561-6ab9-46ea-8d6d-f07ac0cf136d
I emailed him recently to express support. Imagine he feels pretty lonely. Interestingly his Wikipedia page is full of references to alleged corruption- no idea whether they are true or not and don’t care, but if true pale into insignificance compared to the Covid fraud.
you have to be courageous to go against the grain and to speak up. You have to be even more courageous to publicly admit that you were wrong. that’s why the House is almost empty.
A criminal investigation needs to be started, the offices of these institutions must be raided and incriminating materials removed and placed in the hands of independent investigators. When it is proven (as it will be) that data on the clear dangers of this poison have long been available and intentionally withheld, criminal charges must be brought against those who withheld these data – and particularly against those who signed off on and allowed continuation of the poisoning. The investigation must extend to the regulatory agencies who allowed this, with full knowledge of all the damage.
MPs must front run this – someone is going to carry the can for this, one day or another, in one form or another. The regulatory agencies, health care institutions and, of course, big p-harma itself are most at fault – hold them to account.
Many people who stopped at 2 or 3 shots thought they were okay after so many months had passed. They are now undoubtedly worrying whether they may yet join the ever-increasing group of ‘died suddenly’ ‘passed peacefully in his/her sleep’. People in this position, increasingly anxious, will also increasingly feel they have little to lose. Ignoring the elephant in the room that died suddenly of cardiac arrest is nothing other than sowing the wind…
Unfortunately, we cannot even trust our own police force to investigate – even when they are presented with irrefutible evidence. When it is demanded that they close down the vaccination centres and impound the ‘vaccines’, they protect the perpetrators and arrest those seeking to stop the harms continuing.
We have a police force???…WOW, who knew?
I believe there were just 3 people in the chamber last night. I can only conclude the following points:
Covid hypocrisy and lying by western “leaders” continues relentlessly – as the likes of Trudeau, Biden, Arden, Johnson, Dan Andrews and other double-dealing tyrants condemn Putin and Xi Jinping while their behaviour is markedly worse.
And still the dopey public, led by the nose by the likes of the BBC and Daily Mail/Telegraph, continue to fall for the scam.
This corruption will not be resolved until Bill Gates is evicted from W H O, Gavi, CEPI and all other such advocacy groups where conflicts of interest lead to fatal results for the blind presuming masses
One cheer – I’ll save the other two until the arrests start and charges are brought.
Well done Andrew Bridgen and Danny Kruger in raising this vitally important matter, not just for the UK, but around the globe.
It’s devastating what the UK Boris Johnson government unleashed upon the world when it adopted the recommendations of Neil Ferguson et al’s Imperial College Report 9 in March 2020, i.e. to suppress the virus “until a vaccine becomes available”.
Vaccines were subsequently rushed out, despite the fact the virus/disease wasn’t a serious threat to most people – how did this happen, how was a ‘vaccine solution’ evaluated and approved?
It subsequently emerged that Neil Ferguson is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this serious conflict of interest wasn’t disclosed in Report 9.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been dominating international vaccination policy for years, and is a major funder of the World Health Organisation, as well as being instrumental in the founding of the Gavi Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also provided funding for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trials.
Bill Gates was the leader of ‘the race for a coronavirus vaccine’ in 2020, see for example his GatesNotes: What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine, published on 30 April 2020.
Why is this software billionaire dominating international vaccination policy, and having the likes of then prime minister Boris Johnson at his beck and call?
The grossly disproportionate and ill-targeted Covid response is a diabolical shambles.
The damage wrought around the world is immense, including in my country, Australia, where millions of people have been coerced to have the Covid needles, including children. Millions of people have been mandated to have the jabs, e.g. No Jab, No Job.
Informed consent has been trashed, and personal autonomy and bodily integrity destroyed. Mandated medical interventions in a supposed free country, it’s a travesty.
This is the biggest crime of all time, bring on the investigation and the trials.
I would have thought that an NDA does not apply for the purposes of Whistleblowing when it is in the public interest.
I’ve never once caught a glimpse of my MP in the House so don’t expect he was there to hear this.
The useless great lump is still promoting the boosters, even to those who are pregnant. He reckons the unjabbed careworkers were rightfully sacked, so no chance of an apology, reinstatement or compensation from his direction. (I tried)
I look forward to his defenestration at the next election, unless he takes the coward’s way out and resigns first.
All credit to Mr Bridgen for his stance in this unpopular cause; I salute him.
Exactly the same here. Ian Liddell-Grainger, shame on him, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset. “Useless great lump” perfectly describes him too; has completely ignored perfectly legitimate pleas to open his eyes and look more closely at all or any of this, for more than 2 years. Utter waste of space and oxygen.
Hats off to Mr Bridgen.
Thanks for printing the Bridgen speech, which I watched because the whole of it was on John Campbell’s YouTube channel as well.
I have written to my MP (Andrew Murrison), who is himself an MD, underlining the importance of Bridgen’s speech, expressing my concern and asking why none of this seems to be being investigated by our (interest-conflicted public health bodies. I shall be interested to get his reaction (if any).
So Andrew Bridgen gets it. Only another 649 MPs to go…
Christopher Chope does as well.
648…
Surely no-one is suggesting our MPs could be diverted from their duty in any way by any outside influences?
.
UK MPs defend accepting ‘lavish’ Qatari gifts before World Cup
MPs argued trips to Qatar were an opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the government.
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-mps-defend-accepting-260000-in-qatari-gifts-before-world-cup/
.
Well done and thank you, Andrew Bridgen.
Well done Andrew Bridgen. We need a Nuremberg type trial and convictions for crimes against humanity.
Much to be wished, although I was hoping that my investment in tar and feathers futures might work out well.
Well it’s taken a very long time for any of “our” MPs to dare talk “the vaccine narrative” down and expose the corruption at the heart of Big Pharma and the National Health Bureaucracies it funds.
Are Sunak and Barclay listening?
I doubt it. They daren’t admit that the Government coerced the population to participate in a mass medical experiment and has pushed dangerous “vaccines” on people who didn’t need them and as a result has injured millions and killed thousands.
It’s mind-boggling…
There should never have been a ‘vaccine solution’ for this disease it was known from the beginning wasn’t a serious threat to most people…but at the same time the threat was beaten up to justify the ‘vaccines’.
Billions of people around the world have been deliberately misled about this virus/disease, and been set up to be exploited by the lucrative Covid industry, created out of thin air.
In Australia, millions of people have been mandated to have the jabs, e.g. No Jab, No Job. In some states such as Victoria and Western Australia, life was made very difficult for those critical thinking people who refused to consent to the jabs, being cancelled out of civil society,
It’s been the most shocking experience of my lifetime, seeing how discrimination could be so easily implemented, and for people to be manipulated to turn on each other.
Rogue governments have facilitated this most egregious assault upon the people, how do we bring them to account
“There should never have been a ‘vaccine solution’ for this disease…”
Exactly. And in those few words the whole essence of the scam and probably the greatest crime against humanity ever perpetrated is captured.
Andrew Bridgen has partially restored my faith in democracy. Hats off to you, sir.