Forcing elderly veterans to stand outside on Remembrance Sunday because of a lockdown ban on mass church worship has been branded ‘imbecilic’ by the House of Lords.
The lockdown, which comes into force across England at midnight tonight, will ban veterans from attending Remembrance Sunday services inside churches and will instead require them to stand outside to play their respects.
Guidance from the Government allows local authorities in England to organise events at a ‘public war memorial or cenotaph’ so long as they are held outdoors, they are short and those in attendance observe social distancing measures.
However, places of worship will be closed when the four-week lockdown comes into force on Thursday, unless they are being used for funerals, individual prayer, formal childcare or other essential voluntary and public services such as support groups.
Exemptions will also be made for churches that are broadcasting acts of worship.
Veterans with medals and poppies in the march past at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday to commemorate the war dead on November 11, 2007
Pictured: War veterans march past the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday service on November 12, 2006
Peers at Westminster highlighted the steps already taken to make places of worship safe during the coronavirus pandemic as they challenged the upcoming ban on holding services.
Several members in the House of Lords raised concerns over the impact of the move on people’s mental health, pointing out that for many elderly people attending church was their only regular social activity.
Defending the rules, Communities Minister Lord Greenhalgh said: ‘We have come to a critical point in the fight against Covid-19.’
Stressing the need to ‘limit our interaction with others’, he said: ‘Therefore, with great regret, while places of worship will remain open for individual prayer, communal worship cannot take place at this time.’
Pressing the minister, Tory peer Lord Cormack said he had ‘not given a single shred of evidence as to why churches should not be open for public worship’.
He said a remembrance service had been planned for this Sunday in Lincoln Cathedral, which was ‘an immense space where everybody can be properly socially distanced’.
Lord Cormack added: ‘Instead, the Government have come up with an imbecilic answer – that the veterans, all of whom are 90 and over, can stand in the cold and be rained on, but they cannot go into a safe, socially distanced cathedral. This is a disgrace.’
Volunteers from the British Legion plant crosses in regimental plots in Westminster Abbey ahead of Remembrance Sunday to commemorate and honour the fallen British and Commonwealth soldiers from the Armed forces on Monday
Giant poppies painted on the side of the Bathgate Pyramids next to the M8 in West Lothian ahead of Remembrance Sunday seen on Wednesday
Lord Greenhalgh said: ‘I recognise that this is a difficult time for people of all faiths.
‘Remembrance Sunday services are of course an important part of celebrating what generations before have done for this country, but they can take place at the Cenotaph in a Covid-secure way.’
He added: ‘We understand that these are sacrifices but, as someone who, during the first lockdown, lost his mother, who was very much a believer, spent three days in hospital before she died and said her rosary every day, I understand what it means to have faith.
‘On Sunday, for the first time, I was able to take my father, who survived, to the church where they worshipped every week.
‘That was very difficult for me, he was very emotional, so I understand the point that he makes.’
The former bishop of Oxford and independent crossbencher Lord Harries of Pentregarth said: ‘Although it is true that churches are remaining open for private prayer, is it not important to recognise that the Christian faith is essentially a corporate activity?
‘It is a gathering of the Lord’s people around the Lord’s table on the Lord’s day. Similarly, Islam is no less a communal religion.’
He said churches had been ‘absolutely meticulous’ in ensuing the buildings were safe and the rules were followed.
Singer Fiona Kennedy promotes the global initiative #iSing4Peace at the Land Army War Memorial at Clochan, Moray, on Monday ahead of Remembrance Sunday
Labour peer Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, a Methodist minister, said: ‘On behalf of the many elderly people for whom the act of worship is the only social activity they have from one week to another, when can their needs be taken seriously into account so that they can enjoy a sense of wellbeing, even in these difficult times?’
Lord Greenhalgh said: ‘We recognise that this lockdown will be a very difficult period for people of faith too. The position is somewhat better than in the first lockdown, when places of worship were shut entirely.
‘We recognise that some significant events for all faiths will be taking place during this lockdown, and I am sure that this will be kept under review by the Government.
Tory peer Baroness Altmann warned of the impact on people’s mental health, arguing that ‘the sense of community that sometimes gets people out of bed in the morning has been put at risk’.
She said: ‘These places of worship have put in place so much protection: many are safer than the House of Lords. I hope that the Government might reconsider.’
The minister said: I understand the effort that places of worship have taken to make themselves Covid-secure for a whole range of activities, including the core important function of communal worship.
‘Again, I will make every endeavour to ensure that the Government recognise that.’