Bishop Steven told the House about an interfaith peace vigil which was held in Oxford recently, bringing together diverse communities from across the city in a call for peace, remembrance and unity.

Here is the text of his speech:

My Lords, I want to thank the Minister for her very, very compassionate and clear speech, statement and the tone in which it is delivered. If I may, other noble Lords who have spoken will speak about these terrible, terrible events and the effect they are having on our own communities. I was privileged to take part on Sunday evening, the anniversary of the last day of relative peace, in a large community and interfaith vigil in Oxford and for Oxford and Oxfordshire.

Despite terrible weather, well over 200 people came together, drawn from the Muslim, the Jewish, the Christian communities, other faiths and those of no faith. We listened to our local council leaders, our civic leaders from the county, the vice chancellors of our two universities, and other representatives of the community.

It was an enormous encouragement and comfort to see the way in which different sections of the community were able to come together and to make a stand for peace, in remembrance, in lament, for all that has been lost and in a common commitment to community cohesion.

My Lords as other noble Lords have said already, this is a particular conflict which places almost unique strains on our own communities in the United Kingdom. Could I ask the Minister to say what the Government is doing and plans to do in the future to encourage this deeper and greater community cohesion as these stresses no doubt continue in the year which is to come?