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Closed Remove Bishops from House of Lords

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Remove all Bishops from the House of Lords.

Currently both Archbishops and 24 Bishops of the Church of England have seats in the House of Lords. And the proposed reform bill retains 12 "Lords Spiritual".

Active membership of the Church of England is a tiny fraction of what it used to be, and there is now a massive diversity of religious belief in the United Kingdom. The Bishops can no longer claim to speak for the nation's moral character.

But representatives from any religious organisation can surely have no place in a modern legislature. They have no legitimacy; they're not elected, they have no special expertise or experience and they represent only a very narrow section of society.

For a modern upper chamber, for a more legitimate House of Lords, it is time to throw the Bishops out of the House of Lords.

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    This petition will stay open until 5 August 2012.