Burial not the Cremation of the Deceased

Coronavirus Bill in the House of Commons

Welcome the Amendment on the Burial,

not the Cremation of the Victims

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The House of Commons was considering the draft emergency bill on Coronavirus on 23rs March 2020. And one element of the Bill caused particular alarm amongst some of the faith based communities. Rt. Hon. Naz Shah Member of the Bradford West tabled an amendment to that. The Government listened and put an amendment.

Followings are in brief the debate took place on the issue of Burial in the House of Commons of the British Parliament on 23 March, 2020.

Rt. Hon. Paul Bristow Conservative

MP for Peterborough

The debate, Paul Bristow Conservative MP for Peterborough said, “My one concern related to the proposal in Schedule 27 to disregard the wishes of the deceased, which would have allowed all bodies to be cremated indiscriminately if the system could not cope.”

“Understandably, that caused alarm to anyone whose religion forbids cremation, including my local Muslim community in Peterborough, who made their feelings clear to me this weekend. However, difficult circumstances become in the weeks and months ahead, it would be extremely undesirable for their religious beliefs to be ignored. To get through this crisis, we need to bring every community in our country with us. For that reason, I am enormously grateful to the Government for their reassurances today on that issue,” said the Conservative MP Bristow and added, “Today’s notice of the amendment from the Secretary of State, combined with his comments, will give our Muslim and Jewish communities much of the security they need. I sincerely hope that this will now mean that local authorities will never enforce cremation of a dead body against the express wishes of the family when they have ample burial plots available and the ability to transport the body to the plots. This is welcome and needed.”

Paul Bristow also mentioned, “I have been in close contact with the leaders of all Peterborough’s mosques, who took a first lead last week in closing Friday prayers, in their extra-curricular schooling and in all their other activities, which was by no means easy for them. I thank Mr. Abdul Choudhuri of the Faizan-e-Madinah, Nazim Khan of the Masjid Ghousia, Hamid Chaudhury of Masjid Khadijah, Mohammad Yunas of the Alma Road Mosque, and Salim Rahmatullah of the Hussaini Islamic Centre, Burton Street. We need them and they need us, now more than ever. I know that they will be relieved and pleased by the news from the Government. I also know that Peterborough can come together to refine procedures that will allow for Muslim and Jewish burial.”

Rt. Hon, Ruth Jones, Labour Party

MP from Newport West

Rt. Hon, Ruth Jones, Labour Party MP from Newport West joined in the debate and said, “Talking on faith, I welcome the amendment on the Burial, not cremation, of victims, which will do so much to reassure the strong and vibrant Muslim community in Newport West that respect and decency, as well as saving lives and getting through this crisis, is an important focus for all of us.”

Rt. Hon. Zarah Sultana Labour Party

MP from Coventry South

Rt. Hon. Zarah Sultana Labour party MP from Coventry South said, “I welcome the fact that an amendment has been accepted that gives protections to Muslim and Jewish communities, who feared that the Bill would have resulted in forced cremation. I hope that the provisions on those protections are heeded.”

Rt. Hon. Caroline Nokes Conservative Party MP

from Romsey and Southampton North

Rt. Hon. Caroline Nokes Conservative party MP from Romsey and Southampton North said, “I spoke for that black and minority ethnic backgrounds and of course, the Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend, the Member from Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), has done some phenomenal work with faith communities, making sure that funerals can be held appropriately for religions. But I would like to point out that it is in the gig economy where we are most likely to find people from a BAME background working; they are also most likely to be young people.”

Rt. Hon.Imran Hussain Labour Party

MP from Bradford East

Rt. Hon. Imran Hussain Labour Party MP from Bradford East said, “I will make one point that has been raised with me by a number of constituents about Schedule 27 which suspends protections that prevent the cremation of an individual regardless of their wishes or faith. The right to faith and dignity in death is one of our most inalienable rights and one on which we must never compromise. How our physical bodies are handled and treated after our death is a core tenet of all faiths. That is why I wrote to Public Health England some time ago to express my concerns about how the deceased may be handled during this emergency, and why I was alarmed to learn of the manners in the Bill that overrule the right to faith and dignity in death by permitting a local authority to cremate an individual against their wishes.”

Labour MP Hussain said, “While I acknowledge that the Government have  this afternoon taken a step in the right direction and shown that they are listening to and engaging with the faith communities by making it clear in law that faith must be taken into account before a decision on cremation is made, there is still some confusion as the provisions still appear to allow a local authority to cremate an individual against their wishes where there is a lack of capacity, either locally or in the immediate area, for handling the deceased. The Government must this afternoon address that confusion and make it clear that the absolute right to refuse the option of cremation is upheld in their amendment and in Government policy.

Bradford East MP Hussain said, “The Government must also make clear this commitment and ensuring that all local authorities have sufficient capacity to handle an increased number of deaths. On that point, I pay tribute to the work of Bradford Council over recent days and weeks to build additional capacity to handle deaths in a faith compliant manner, to ensure that in Bradford we never have to compromise on the right to faith and dignity in death. As the leader of the Bradford Council has firmly set out: “Those of faith where burial is a prerequisite will always have that wish respected, and that will always be Bradford Council’s position in all circumstances.”

“I think that point should be put clearly on the record,” Member of Parliament for Bradford East said.

He also added, “In short, our Muslim and Jewish faith communities are rightly concerned about the manners in the Bill and want firm assurances from the Government  - assurances I urge the Government to provide today – that they will never compromise the right to faith and dignity in death. These are fundamental and absolute rights, and they are non-negotiable.”

Rt. Hon. Yasmin Qureshi, Labour Party MP

from Bolton South West 

Rt. Hon. Yasmin Qureshi, Labour Party MP from Bolton South West  said, “It is clear from the words set out in sub-paragraphs 13(1)(a) and (b) in part 3 of Schedule 27 that it is desirable for local authorities to consult with religious communities and groups in the event of a deceased person. However, that provision does not say that if a family or person objects to the cremation taking place, the local authority can still go ahead and cremate. I would like the Minister’s assurance that that is correct; or will the Bill be amended during its passage to say very clearly that if a person does not wish to be cremated, then a cremation will not take place?”

Rt. Hon. Naz Shah, Labour

Party MP from Bradford West

Rt. Hon. Naz Shah, Labour Party MP from Bradford West said, “Members have said that a 100% guarantee that nobody will be cremated against their wishes would be very welcome. Does my hon. Friend agree?

Rt. Hon. Nick-Thomas-Symonds replied, “Yes, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work that she has been doing on this matter.

The Minister Penny Penhaunt

The Minister Penny Penhaunt said, “Let me turn to other Government amendments, particularly on cremation which many hon. Members have raised. For their engagement, I want to thank in particular the hon. Members for Bradford West (Naz Shah), for Birmingham Ladywood (Shabana Mehmood), and for Bradford East (Imran Hussain), and my hon. Friends the Member for Peterborough (Paul Bristow), for Dudley North (Marco Longhi), for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton), for Wycombe (Mr. Baker), for Wealden (Ms. Ghani) and for Meriden (Saqib Bhatti).

The Minister also said, “The policy has been developed on dealing with excess deaths has involved all faith groups from the start. The purpose of the provisions is to ensure that people’s choices can be adhered to, that the dignity of the deceased is respected and that support services for families are in place, even in times of great stress. There should be no public health reason or capacity reason to be buried would be cremated. I can give the House that reassurance. We have included further measures in the Bill. Local authority leaders will also want to reassure their communities in the coming days – clearly, it is local authority chief executives who will use these powers, if they are ever used. I also want to put on the record my thanks to the councillor Sharon Thompson of Birmingham City Council.”

Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi

from Bolton South East

Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi from Bolton South East said, “The provision states that it is desirable for a Local authority or public authority to seek the wishes of the deceased person’s family or a place of worship if there is no next of kin. Saying that it is desirable to take their views into consideration does not mean that those views will apply if a local authority or public authority decides that a cremation is going to take place, under the legislation as it stands. The Government could make an amendment to clearly specify that if somebody does not wish to be cremated, they will not be cremated. That is missing from the Bill at the moment.”

The Minister Penny Mordaunt

The Minister Penny Mordaunt replied, “We have brought forward an amendment that gives those guarantees with regard to someone’s beliefs, religion or wishes. In addition, I stress that it has never been the case – there has never been any doubt about this – that somebody who wished to be buried would have to be cremated. There is no public health reason or capacity reason why that should be the case. We have worked from the off with all faiths to produce the guidelines, and the amendment was produced through consultations. I see no circumstance – and it certainly would not relate to those powers - in which somebody would be cremated against their wishes. I do not think I can give any more guarantees than that. That is absolutely not the intent of the policy and it is certainly not anything to do with the practice.”