Equality Bill [HL]

I always listen to the noble Lord, Lord Peyton of Yeovil, with great pleasure. He never understates when an overstatement would serve the purpose. The position is that ever since 1975, if not before, similar language has been included in both the Sex Discrimination and Race Relations Acts. As I have mentioned before, both measures had the wholehearted support of great Conservative statesmen, such as Lord   Hailsham of St. Marylebone, and many others. Indeed, language of this kind was included in one of the best discrimination laws I have ever seen, the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989, which was introduced by the government of the noble Baroness, Lady Thatcher, for Northern Ireland and had exactly the same aspirations in the equality field. The Race Relations Act 1976 is just one example. It speaks not only about working,"““towards the elimination of discrimination””," but also about promoting,"““equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups generally””." It deals with research, education and promotional activities. One of the great merits of this holistic Bill, in the sense that it brings together the different strands of equality, is that the promotional side, rather than litigation and a case-based Commission, is what has been settled upon in relation to human rights. Changing the culture of respect for human rights through the activities of the commission is extremely important. At the moment, the only body that does so in a broad way is the Joint Committee on Human Rights, but we are only a committee of parliamentarians; we do not have all the underpinning that the commission will have. For that reason, and many others, I firmly oppose the amendment.