The Bishops of Barking, Edmonton, Stepney, Croydon and Woolwich wrote a letter to Alok Sharma, urging him to back the Newham property licencing scheme.

The Bishop of Woolwich, Rt Rev Woyin Karowei Dorgu told Premier why the Bishops decided to join forces.

He said: “We felt that it’s our responsibility because it’s one of the priorities of the ministry of the Bishop to speak for the voiceless and to speak for those who are marginalised, oppressed and are suffering injustice in society as Jesus would do.”

The decision for the pioneering property licencing scheme in Newham is imminent and the scheme cannot roll further without backing from Mr Sharma.

Rt Rev Dorgu told Premier it is “very urgent” for tenants to be protected.

While the Bishops alongside leaders from community organising charity Citizens UK welcomed recent moves to tackle the rising problem of bad landlords, they delivered the letter as “more can be done by local councils and community leaders”.

They also claimed in their letter that there is evidence that landlords continue to get away with leaving tenants in shocking housing conditions.

Rt Rev Dorgu highlighted the problem to Premier.

He explained “In the face of making so much money and wealth out of the industry, we’ve also experienced such a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.

“Some of the states in which these homes…exist, is just simply unacceptable.”

The Bishops’ letter was…

Church leaders were told they could only continue to hold them if they obtained permission from the district official’s collector’s office.

However, Pastor Johnson Sathyanathan, president of the Synod of Pentecostal Churches in Coimbatore told Morning Star India: “It is a well-planned conspiracy against the Christian community, as the Hindu extremists know that it is not easy to approach the collector’s office for such permissions.”

He continued: “The time to get such approvals can stretch from a year and a half to many more years.”

Orders were issued after complaints were apparently made by members of a paramilitary group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party.

10 churches have been affected by this order in the last two months – all ones which Pastor Sathyanathan says have been doing ministry for years and people have never had a problem with before.

Since Narandra Modi took power in 2014, hostility against non-Hindus has become worse according to religious rights activists.
India is ranked 15 on Open Door’s 2017 World Watch List.