Desmond Swayne – 2023 Parliamentary Question on the Church of England’s Assets and their Historic Involvement with Slavery
The parliamentary question asked by Desmond Swayne, the Conservative MP for New Forest West, in the House of Commons on 26 January 2023.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Whether the commissioners have made an estimate of the proportion of the Church’s assets that may have a link to a historic involvement with slavery.
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous)
The Church Commissioners have not tried to draw a direct line from historical investments to current assets, given the myriad inflows and outflows over 300 years. Our forensic accountants estimate that investments linked to the slaving activities of the South Sea Company were equivalent to several hundred million pounds in today’s money. That is deeply shameful to acknowledge, and while no amount of money will ever be enough to repair the horrors of the past, the Church Commissioners have decided to invest £100 million over the next nine years in a better future for all, particularly in those communities affected by historical slavery.
Sir Desmond Swayne
Can my hon. Friend assure me that the not disproportionate £100 million will be spent to reduce the shocking persistence of slavery in the present?
Andrew Selous
The £100-million fund will enable impact investment grant funding and research in response to the findings in the Church Commissioners’ report. An oversight group will be established to help the Church Commissioners shape and deliver that response. Today the Church Commissioners, as award-winning ethical investors, punch well above their weight in combating modern slavery and human rights violations all around the world.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
While we cannot and should never ignore the Church’s historical involvement with slavery, is it not better to focus on the missionary work that churches did over the years, with the spread of the Gospel and the best story ever told: that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners?
Andrew Selous
I do not think it is a question of either/or. When the chief executive of the Church Commissioners was on the “Today” programme recently explaining why we have done this, he was contacted later that day by a global majority heritage individual who had stayed away from the Church for 40 years and is now going to come back again. I say also to the hon. Gentleman that full churches do not tend to fall down.
