UK Parliament / Open data

Equality Bill (HL)

Debate on bills on Monday, 21 November 2005, in the House of Commons, led by Meg Munn. The answering member was Baroness Laing of Elderslie.
Equality Bill (HL). Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion for proceedings in Committee, on Report and Third reading agreed to on division (292 to 42). Money resolution agreed to on question (formal). Bill read a Second time.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

439 c1237-341 

Session

2005-06

Department

Department of Trade and Industry

Legislative stage

Second reading

Procedure

Programme motions
Money resolutions

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Equality Bill (HL). Brought from the Lords. Explanatory Notes Bill 85-EN also published.
Friday, 11 November 2005
Bills
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Speaker | 439 c1250 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. and learned Lady must withdraw that last remark.
Speaker | 439 c1250 (Link to this contribution) Withdraw the remark.

Show all contributions (330)
Speaker | 439 c1299 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next hon. Member to speak, a considerable number of hon. Members are still ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1241-2 (Link to this contribution) In a moment. The commission will work for individuals, providing advice and support on all discrimin...
Meg Munn | 439 c1241 (Link to this contribution) I need to make some progress. The commission for equality and human rights will make a difference. ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1240-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I am very happy to ignore certain sounds from certain B...
Meg Munn | 439 c1241 (Link to this contribution) I will give way shortly, but I need first to make a little more progress. The commission will reach...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister ignore the siren—if majority—voices that are coming, interestingly, from Conservat...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) We were sound all round, so I am sorry that we seem to have regressed, at least in some parts of the...
Meg Munn | 439 c1239 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises a point that I shall address a little later when we deal with the gender d...
Meg Munn | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) The Bill does not cover that matter. I understand that there are no plans at present to deal specifi...
Simon Hughes | 439 c1239-40 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister knows, Liberal Democrats welcome the Bill. Will she address a group of people who ha...
Meg Munn | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) Issues of age are pervasive. Provisions on age in many aspects of our legislation affect not only ol...
Paul Burstow | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) I, too, welcome the Bill. The Minister touched on the discrimination that older people can often fac...
Meg Munn | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) I thought that I was being asked to solve a mystery, but it is a bit simpler than that. The work tha...
Tony Baldry | 439 c1240 (Link to this contribution) I basically welcome the Bill, but I hope that the Minister can solve a mystery. She referred to the ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1239 (Link to this contribution) I should like to make a little progress. I will give way in a short period. We are also proud of wh...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1239 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that hard work needs to be fairly rewarded? Will she have a look at the gend...
Meg Munn | 439 c1239 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. Of course such things are wrong, and they are precisely som...
Chris Bryant | 439 c1238-9 (Link to this contribution) Contrary to the mumblings among Conservative Back-Benchers, by which they seem to suggest that equal...
Meg Munn | 439 c1238 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He makes some important points. Of course, it is ab...
John Bercow | 439 c1238 (Link to this contribution) Having enthusiastically supported the Bill on Second Reading on 5 April this year, I do not feel the...
Meg Munn | 439 c1238 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. A number of people have raised that issue with me. Of c...
Kali Mountford | 439 c1238 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to say how much work has already been done on gender equality and for transg...
Meg Munn | 439 c1237 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman answers for me. I ask the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne) to be pat...
Eric Forth | 439 c1237 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister share any of my anxieties that the creation of a huge bureaucratic quango is in da...
Meg Munn | 439 c1237 (Link to this contribution) I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s anxieties on that, or anything else.
Meg Munn | 439 c1237-8 (Link to this contribution) I hope that hon. Members will permit me to make just a little progress. The Government have done mo...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1237 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Lady spotted the fact that religious equality takes up 36 clauses, whereas sexual equal...
Meg Munn | 439 c1237 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am pleased to be opening the debate on th...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1244 (Link to this contribution) Given that, to judge by past experience, the commission will put a considerable amount of effort int...
Meg Munn | 439 c1244 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an issue of detail, and I should be grateful if she held on to that thought un...
Gerald Howarth | 439 c1244 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way. I have to say that, as a white, Anglo-Saxon,...
Meg Munn | 439 c1244-5 (Link to this contribution) I am enjoying this more than I expected to; the Conservatives’ arguments are indeed interesting. The...
Harry Cohen | 439 c1245 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister aware of the criticism of Lord Ouseley in the other place, who says that it would be...
Meg Munn | 439 c1245 (Link to this contribution) Again, my hon. Friend has anticipated something that I shall deal with shortly. The Commission’s ge...
Meg Munn | 439 c1245 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies).
Philip Davies | 439 c1245 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister comment on the fact that in the past 10 years the Commission for Racial Equality h...
Meg Munn | 439 c1242-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises the important issue of the commissions’ coming together. Even though there...
Meg Munn | 439 c1243 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a little more progress before taking more interventions. I am very pleased that there i...
Meg Munn | 439 c1243-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree. Children are people and this Bill is for all people. It is important that they be co...
Meg Munn | 439 c1244 (Link to this contribution) I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber).
Meg Munn | 439 c1243 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke).
Annette Brooke | 439 c1243 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for giving way. Will she consider including in the Bill an explicit reference t...
Meg Munn | 439 c1243 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady will be patient, I want to make a little more progress. Bringing equality and huma...
Lord Robathan | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I confess that I have not followed the passage of the Bill through the House of Lords as closely as ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman please wait while I answer the previous intervention? We want to ensure tha...
Meg Munn | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman; he has been very persistent.
Joan Ruddock | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome the Bill, but does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that under clause 1...
Meg Munn | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for her question. The Government believe that it is enormously important to c...
John Bercow | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) has made a perfectly fair point about Bromley borough council...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) Is not one of the reasons for urgency in this regard the outrageous behaviour of Tory Bromley boroug...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) I agree, and there are many other examples of gay people being blatantly denied access to goods and ...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) This legislation is a welcome patch job, which will be put right by the single equality Bill, which ...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the provision, as the hon. Lady has just enunciated it. What I do not understa...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1258 (Link to this contribution) Well, an objection might be about to be made.
Angela Eagle | 439 c1257-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the support of the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing), who spoke from the Conserva...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1256 (Link to this contribution) I want to finish, if my hon. Friend will forgive me. I want to see every person in Britain today be...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1256 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not mean suffragettes; I mean the suffragists. They would not have succeeded had it not bee...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1255 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Lady is a lawyer, and so am I, so I will give way to her.
Vera Baird | 439 c1255 (Link to this contribution) Is not the purpose of the commission to take the emphasis away from individual cases? Attempts to ac...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1255-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, it is. I was about to make that point. For the sake of brevity, I will not repeat it. The hon. ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1255 (Link to this contribution) I possibly could, but I might have to write a book. If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I shall u...
Jim Devine | 439 c1255 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Lady give a definition of political correctness?
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1255 (Link to this contribution) I have given way a good deal. If I do not make more progress others will have to make much shorter s...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1254-5 (Link to this contribution) We shall have to look at every word of the regulations if and when the Government attempt to introdu...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) When we consider exceptions, what is important is scrutiny of the parliamentary process. However, on...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1264 (Link to this contribution) Is not that difference down to the location of the different commissions’ offices? Does not the hon....
Angela Eagle | 439 c1261-2 (Link to this contribution) No. I am sorry, but there is a time limit, and I have very little time left. The hon. Gentleman will...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1262-4 (Link to this contribution) Those of us who are regular attendees at questions to the Minister for Women are well aware of the s...
Speaker | 439 c1262 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman has made his point.
Brooks Newmark | 439 c1262 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) made some excellent points by referencing statistics fro...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1262 (Link to this contribution) Liberal Democrat Members welcome the Bill, although that is not to say that it is perfect by any str...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1264 (Link to this contribution) I want to finish my point. It would be helpful if the Government published a breakdown of how the co...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1264 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises a very good point to which I will return. There is an educational element ...
John Bercow | 439 c1264 (Link to this contribution) Just before the hon. Lady goes on to those important budgetary issues, she will doubtless agree with...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1260-1 (Link to this contribution) I have a great deal of respect for Lady Thatcher, but I fear I cannot include her in my list as she ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1259 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we will consider this matter at length in Committee. However, let me explain the exem...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1258-9 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree, and I am more than happy to have cross-party consensus, at least with the hon. Ge...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1259 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to hear the hon. Lady say that. I do not see why there should be an exemption in that cas...
Lord Cormack | 439 c1259 (Link to this contribution) Following the point made earlier, if one forces somebody to do something that is entirely against hi...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1259-60 (Link to this contribution) That is an issue for Committee, but it is currently not legal to deny somebody a hotel room because ...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1265-7 (Link to this contribution) I want to make a little progress. Another idea, which has been discussed by a number of people, is ...
Liz Blackman | 439 c1267-9 (Link to this contribution) Like every other speaker, I welcome the Bill. I echo the sentiments expressed by some of my hon. Fri...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1269-70 (Link to this contribution) It is always an enormous pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Erewash (Liz Blackman), who brings a...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1270 (Link to this contribution) Where does the hon. Gentleman’s rather Old Testament view of religion leave the scope for ecumenical...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1265 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, as always. The key is achieving a balance between retaining...
Julie Morgan | 439 c1265 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady aware that there is an EOC, a DRC and a CRE in Cardiff, in Wales? She omitted to me...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1265 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of that, but given that such responsibilities are partially devolved, and that I have lim...
Sandra Gidley | 439 c1264-5 (Link to this contribution) That point can be taken into account only to an extent. The EOC is in Manchester, but so, I believe,...
Simon Hughes | 439 c1265 (Link to this contribution) The CRE is based in my constituency, which is very welcome, but it is very important that the new co...
Meg Munn | 439 c1245-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should read the Bill’s provisions more closely. Clauses 1 to 7, together with sc...
Julie Morgan | 439 c1246 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware of the sad death of Charles Smith a week ago? He was a CRE commissioner and ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1246 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an important matter. Indeed, I was aware of the gentleman’s sad death and pay ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1246 (Link to this contribution) The appointment of commissioners needs to reflect the whole range of equality issues. Regardless of ...
David TC Davies | 439 c1246 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady. Whatever else we may say, she has certainly been generous with her time. Will...
Lord Cormack | 439 c1247 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister, who is indeed being generous. I hope she is now being treated equally...
Meg Munn | 439 c1247 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is patient, I will come to that shortly. Clauses 13 to 19 set out the commiss...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 439 c1247 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has been astonishingly understanding. Are we really to understa...
Meg Munn | 439 c1249-50 (Link to this contribution) I need to proceed, because many hon. Members want to take part in the debate. I am sure that if the ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1250 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister to her first Second Reading debate in her ministerial role. She puts her poin...
Vera Baird | 439 c1250 (Link to this contribution) As the Member who leads the Conservative party’s support for the Bill—and who did so historically—is...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1250-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. and learned Lady for withdrawing a question that I cannot answer. I hope ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I withdraw the ““almost 50 per cent.””; let us stick with 43 per cent. The cost will be 43 per cent....
Vera Baird | 439 c1250 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that there is not a single yob on the Back Benches of the Conservative party.
Meg Munn | 439 c1247 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. I shall return to it shortly. At present, case law under t...
John Bercow | 439 c1247-8 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has been extremely generous in giving way. A few moments ago, she referred to the impor...
Meg Munn | 439 c1249 (Link to this contribution) Of course I am always happy to receive representations that seek to take us to law that effectively ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1249 (Link to this contribution) I echo the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack) on the...
Meg Munn | 439 c1248 (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Gentleman that that is our intention through the discrimination law review.
Lord Cormack | 439 c1248 (Link to this contribution) As I raised the subject, may I thank the Minister for her response? I urge the Government to consult...
Meg Munn | 439 c1248 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has introduced a level of detail to which I am unable to respond at this point, b...
Bob Spink | 439 c1248 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister explain why the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 does not provide a sound basis...
Harry Cohen | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) : Notwithstanding the hon. Lady’s point about costs, is not there a strong case not only for a Londo...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1252-3 (Link to this contribution) I understand why the hon. Gentleman is standing up for London, and I am sure that that matter will b...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1253 (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend is right about the complexity and the need for greater reflection, but she will not...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1253-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. In principle, it is acceptable to try to enact legislation to sto...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes another good point. I mentioned the Christian Institute and its consideration o...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) Of course there should always be exceptions. Laws without exceptions are not good laws.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of fairness and equality, I will.
Lord Cormack | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend’s comments are important, but something else is even more important. The new body sho...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right—he must have read page 5 of my speech. We will get there in due course. Cost...
Bob Spink | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point but she forgets the economies of scale of combining those or...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I would have thought that savings could be made in those areas, and that they could be offset a...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) : Increasing the commission’s remit and bringing in the additional four strands will lead to an init...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a point about arithmetic, but none of us can prove the arithmetic until we see e...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) : I thank the hon. Lady for giving way, and I hope that she will continue to be robust with the reac...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. His poetic way of expressing his view is excellent, and I hope tha...
John Bercow | 439 c1252 (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack) raised a perfectly fair po...
John Bercow | 439 c1282 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is being exceedingly generous in giving way, so may I gently remind him that on 5 Apr...
Julie Morgan | 439 c1277-80 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called to speak in this important Second Reading debate. I also took part in the...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1280-1 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the contribution of the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan), wh...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1277 (Link to this contribution) It is clearly wrong to discriminate against someone because of their sexual outlook, their race or t...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, but I indicated in my analogy that the person may arriv...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) : Is not there a difference between having an attitude and a view and practising that by one’s behav...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) The answer to my hon. Friend’s question is that the Bill does nothing in that respect but gives the ...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) That is part of the difficulty. The issue remains unclear, and I agree that we need a definitive res...
Diane Abbott | 439 c1276-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned sincerely held beliefs. The whole House respects sincerely held beliefs...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1275 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. I hope that it will indeed be considered.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1275 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman agrees that that matter should be considered in great detail in Commi...
Dawn Butler | 439 c1274 (Link to this contribution) Is it not a well-known fact that the public would like Parliament to be more representative of socie...
Desmond Turner | 439 c1274 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows full well that the Labour party’s practice in regard to all-women shortlist...
Desmond Turner | 439 c1274-5 (Link to this contribution) I can only congratulate the hon. Gentleman. I welcome the Government’s acceptance of the need to le...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1275 (Link to this contribution) I wish to confine my remarks to a small number of issues relating to the Bill. The first is cost, to...
Desmond Turner | 439 c1274 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right—but, as a Labour Member, I would say that. I see no justification for any s...
John Bercow | 439 c1274 (Link to this contribution) : I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. In my case, it dates back five years, nine months and ...
Philip Davies | 439 c1274 (Link to this contribution) : Does the hon. Gentleman accept that it sticks in the throat of some Conservative Members when the ...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1272-3 (Link to this contribution) The examples that I have given are eloquent testimony to what I mean and what is commonly understood...
Desmond Turner | 439 c1273-4 (Link to this contribution) I take a slightly different view from the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne). He is right...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1271-2 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend; he is looking very well on it. Why is it that, prior to that date, m...
Lord Cormack | 439 c1272 (Link to this contribution) The absurd examples quoted by my hon. Friend are already happening. Could we not express the hope th...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1272 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is quite right. One of the advantages of Pepper v. Hart is that the Minister will be ...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1272 (Link to this contribution) We seem to have strayed again into the territory of political correctness. Labour Members are intere...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1270-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady puts her finger exactly on the point. Religions are working together and rubbing along...
John Bercow | 439 c1271 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that clause 44(3)(b) might be incompatible with the coronation oath. I am not certain a...
Desmond Swayne | 439 c1271 (Link to this contribution) I shall have to disappoint my hon. Friend; I shall not be following him down that route. As in so ma...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1295 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend talks about defining terms. What would she say to a lady in my constituency who told ...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1294-5 (Link to this contribution) [Interruption.] Follow that indeed. As I recall, it was Conservative Members who, in arguing that th...
Philip Davies | 439 c1295 (Link to this contribution) No Member in any part of the House questions the good intentions behind the Bill. Many of us, howeve...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1295 (Link to this contribution) It is hard to say, but that is a good point. It is important to raise and to counter such arguments,...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1295-6 (Link to this contribution) The last Member who made a speech opposed precisely those intentions. He referred specifically to no...
Diane Abbott | 439 c1296-7 (Link to this contribution) Opposition Members have argued, as they have done for 40 years, against the use of the law and insti...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1296 (Link to this contribution) May I make some progress first? As I said in my speech during that debate, we argued for those thin...
Bob Spink | 439 c1293-4 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many Members want to speak in this debate. Some of them may be disappointed,...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1297-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend, who puts the case very well. The measure affects and helps everyone—it...
Bob Spink | 439 c1293 (Link to this contribution) If they are not included, a church could be sued over its stance on sexual morality, and a Catholic ...
Bob Spink | 439 c1293 (Link to this contribution) Clause 80 empowers the Secretary of State to legislate by statutory instrument for sexual orientatio...
Bob Spink | 439 c1293 (Link to this contribution) Clause 28 empowers the proposed new commission to provide legal assistance for an individual case. T...
Bob Spink | 439 c1292-3 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman has just walked back into the Chamber, so I will desist. [Hon. Members: ““Giv...
Chris Bryant | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Bob Spink | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member makes his point eloquently, of course. He should wait until we are in Committee to b...
Bob Spink | 439 c1293 (Link to this contribution) The Bill outlaws harassment by public authorities— [Interruption.]
Speaker | 439 c1293 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman has indicated on several occasions that he is not going to give way, and t...
Bob Spink | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) No, not at the moment, thank you. Then there is the clash between homosexual rights and religion. T...
John Bercow | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend allow me to intervene in what is supposed to be a debate?
Bob Spink | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) Action by the commission would be deeply controversial. If an actively homosexual person wanted to b...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) I assume that the hon. Gentleman would accept that one English tradition that he would think very go...
Bob Spink | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a very fair point. We have got bigotry, we have got discrimination, and we have ...
John Bercow | 439 c1292 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. [Hon. Members: ““Ladies first?””] My hon. Frien...
Diane Abbott | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Bob Spink | 439 c1291-2 (Link to this contribution) Evangelical Christian groups want the freedom to proclaim the gospel wherever they go, and I have no...
Dawn Butler | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Bob Spink | 439 c1290-1 (Link to this contribution) I have explained; no. Do we really want to hand over to an unrepresentative and unaccountable body ...
Brooks Newmark | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not understand that our society has changed over the years? Does he not agree th...
Bob Spink | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) I agree, of course, that we must tackle discrimination in all its evil forms. I want to do that and ...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Diane Abbott | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Bob Spink | 439 c1291 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. The other place amended clause 3 so that it reads:"““encouraging and supporting the...
Bob Spink | 439 c1290 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has intervened 10 or 12 times. We will have a detailed debate in Committee, and I hop...
Bob Spink | 439 c1289-90 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan). I congratulate him on his bid for...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1289 (Link to this contribution) I know that the Minister is being persuaded by the strength of the argument made by London Members. ...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1288 (Link to this contribution) Surely all the experience in equality has been gained in Manchester and the commission should thus b...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1289 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s point about the high percentage of people with African heritage i...
Emily Thornberry | 439 c1289 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that the highest percentage of gay couples live in Islington, which is anoth...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1288-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good argument for why one of the regional offices should be in Manchester—I w...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1289 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes important points. Does he agree that as 80 per cent. of black Africans in the U...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1288 (Link to this contribution) I will, even though my hon. Friend does not have a London accent.
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1287 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. We should consider not just people of that age, but the 1.4 million disabled people in L...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1287 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend rightly highlights a very important point. Does he agree that the 250,000 people over...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1287-8 (Link to this contribution) Anyone who has read press reports on the criminal case surrounding the murder of Anthony Walker will...
Diane Abbott | 439 c1287 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will be aware that everyone in the House—on both sides, really—supports the aims of t...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1284-5 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way. I have only three and a half minutes to go before I must conclude. Earlier thi...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1285-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank Back-Bench Members of Her Majesty’s official Opposition for the honesty and candour that the...
Philip Davies | 439 c1286 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about sexual orientation. Does he think that if a gay couple wish to get ma...
Sadiq Khan | 439 c1286-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention because it is a good example of the scarem...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1283-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend gives a good reason why the new body will have to be a first-class example of how to ...
Philip Davies | 439 c1283 (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend is making a good point. Although the organisation may need only one HR department, ...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1282-3 (Link to this contribution) I certainly did: I remember the exchange very well. However, I am concerned that we shall have to co...
Lord Bellingham | 439 c1281-2 (Link to this contribution) As always, my hon. Friend comes up with an extremely intelligent and sensible suggestion, but surely...
John Bercow | 439 c1281 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the best forum for the exercise of scrutiny is this House? Therefore,...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1301 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that situation is all the more offensive given that many resident...
Paul Burstow | 439 c1300-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and much clearer about being tolerant. That was omitted on this occasion. I very much ag...
Chris Bryant | 439 c1300 (Link to this contribution) : Was the hon. Gentleman as saddened as I was by the speech from the hon. Member for Castle Point (B...
Paul Burstow | 439 c1299-300 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I shall endeavour to assist colleagues, to ensure that as many as pos...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1299 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. Such positive examples are greatly to be welcomed. It is part of the responsibility of educa...
Paul Burstow | 439 c1302-3 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more with the hon. Lady. Another Bill is coming before the House to widen the prot...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1302 (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman has made some interesting points about care in institutions. On a slightly wide...
Paul Burstow | 439 c1301-2 (Link to this contribution) I am coming on to that point and agree with the hon. Gentleman that the situation is more offensive ...
Anne McGuire | 439 c1337 (Link to this contribution) I can assure the House that there are already discussions taking place with both the Welsh Assembly ...
Anne McGuire | 439 c1334-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell), who on these issues always ma...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1336 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister undertake to report to the House each year on how much the CEHR has cost and why t...
Anne McGuire | 439 c1336-7 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Lady well knows, Ministers come to the House each year to explain their budget commitmen...
Hywel Williams | 439 c1337 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister ensure that there is full discussion with the Welsh Assembly on the appointment of...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1333-4 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. I cannot be responsible for my hon. Friends, let alone for Labour Members, but we wi...
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1333 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman make a commitment on behalf of the Conservatives that, every time they come ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1332-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree. That is an example of something that needs to change. To be fair to the Minister—I do not ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1331-2 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady. I was coming to that, but I will spare her the wait. She r...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1330-1 (Link to this contribution) It is pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams) because, as I think that he...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1331 (Link to this contribution) Several of us have tried to elicit a definition of political correctness from the Conservative point...
Roger Williams | 439 c1329 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the introduction of memorandums of understanding between the commissioners, because they w...
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that Labour Members had plenty of opportunities to ask those questions while my party was ...
David Evennett | 439 c1312 (Link to this contribution) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was enacted during that period of Conservative Government.
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1313 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for informing me of that point. I support the Bill’s holistic approach in es...
Vera Baird | 439 c1313 (Link to this contribution) I had not understood that the commission would be over-centralised. I shall be disappointed if the M...
David Burrowes | 439 c1308 (Link to this contribution) That is only one option and we should ask whether it is appropriate always to burden those charities...
Vera Baird | 439 c1308-12 (Link to this contribution) If I may partially exclude the previous speaker, some extraordinarily reactionary speeches have been...
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I should like to begin by expressing my support for the Bill. The words of the Minister were right a...
Kitty Ussher | 439 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the hon. Lady’s comments, but will she explain why, throughout the entire 18 years in whic...
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1313 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Minister will say whether there will be regional offices.
John Bercow | 439 c1308 (Link to this contribution) It is a truism that a small organisation that is up against a large organisation will always, relati...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1307 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman telling us that he does not conflate sexual orientation and sexual morality, b...
David Burrowes | 439 c1307 (Link to this contribution) I am putting the case for some churches. My view is immaterial. Some churches properly practise in a...
Angela Eagle | 439 c1307 (Link to this contribution) I am having some difficulty in following the hon. Gentleman’s argument. Is he equating sexual orient...
David Burrowes | 439 c1307 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for allowing me to clarify the point. The ethos and rel...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1306 (Link to this contribution) I think that all Members of this House believe in religious freedom, but we also believe in fairness...
David Burrowes | 439 c1306-7 (Link to this contribution) I do not seek to distinguish between people’s beliefs, nor between the views of the hon. Lady and an...
David Kidney | 439 c1303-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) consistently speaks up for older people, and I jo...
David Burrowes | 439 c1305-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to follow the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney), who made some considered and de...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1307 (Link to this contribution) I spoke recently to a middle-aged lesbian couple in my constituency. One of them said to a roomful o...
David Burrowes | 439 c1307-8 (Link to this contribution) With respect, that is not greatly relevant to the Bill. The issue is not what one individual thinks ...
John Bercow | 439 c1322 (Link to this contribution) I entirely endorse what the hon. Lady has just said about the merits and successes of Stonewall. Wou...
Celia Barlow | 439 c1322-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing those individuals to the attention of the House. They have d...
James Brokenshire | 439 c1324-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I welcome the Bill and its aspirations of ...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1326-7 (Link to this contribution) One consequence of speaking at this point in the debate is that my comments will necessarily be brie...
John Bercow | 439 c1327 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has made a powerful point, but does she not accept that probably tens of thousands of ...
Meg Hillier | 439 c1327-8 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman followed my career when I was a member of the London Assemb...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 439 c1320 (Link to this contribution) At the last election, our party’s manifesto encouraged older people to play a greater role in caring...
Celia Barlow | 439 c1321-2 (Link to this contribution) May I start by expressing my wholehearted support for the Bill? A single commission for equality and...
Maria Miller | 439 c1320-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that timely intervention. I am certainly grateful to my family for provid...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1315 (Link to this contribution) That is what I was talking about. I was saying that in many cases now, some of the ethnic minority g...
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1315 (Link to this contribution) As was pointed out to me, the Government have been in power for eight and half years. They have had ...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1314 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill. I, too, am proud of the work of Labour Governments over 30 years and, as we hear...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 439 c1314-5 (Link to this contribution) How does the hon. Lady account for the figures in my constituency where I have the largest Muslim co...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1316-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend must be clairvoyant. I was coming to that point. Issues involving parenting, caring ...
Maria Miller | 439 c1318-20 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Deputy Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to speak in the debate. It is particularly pleas...
Baroness Keeley | 439 c1315-6 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Lady would agree that it probably takes more than eight and a half years to work on...
Alison Seabeck | 439 c1316 (Link to this contribution) May I say something about the support given to carers and others who are discriminated against by em...
Nadine Dorries | 439 c1313-4 (Link to this contribution) That does not actually mean that the legislation will not be over-centralised in its administration ...
Meg Munn | 439 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend.
Judy Mallaber | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think that someone who has a sincerely held view of repugnance towards peopl...
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) The short answer is that I do support the law in Northern Ireland, but deliberately flouting the law...
Andrew Turner | 439 c1332 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend says that business needs to line up alongside the statutory organisations in supporti...
Meg Munn | 439 c1243 (Link to this contribution) I want to make some progress. Such efforts will help to bring human rights out of the courtroom and...
David TC Davies | 439 c1260 (Link to this contribution) In the hon. Lady’s list of female pioneers in Parliament, has not she forgotten the outstanding achi...
Meg Munn | 439 c1246-7 (Link to this contribution) Again, the hon. Gentleman takes me away from the specifics of the Bill. Clause 10 places the commis...
Meg Munn | 439 c1248 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. It is important to deal with hate crime, wherever ...
Lord Cormack | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) Like the Minister, my hon. Friend has been extremely generous in giving way. Is she aware that reput...
Bob Spink | 439 c1254 (Link to this contribution) : Does my hon. Friend accept that there should be exceptions for religious groups?
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 439 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend, but of course I had not forgotten the economies of scale—I am about to deal ...
Emily Thornberry | 439 c1275-6 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that a proper Christian will understand that one can be gay and be...
Dawn Butler | 439 c1299 (Link to this contribution) : Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating North West London college, which has ensured that th...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 439 c1333 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will understand that I can be responsible for what I say, but I am not sure that I can...
Hywel Williams | 439 c1329-30 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman, who has anticipated my next remarks. Another unique point about Wal...
Hywel Williams | 439 c1328-9 (Link to this contribution) Plaid Cymru and the Scottish national party welcome the Bill with some reservations, but we have bee...
John Bercow | 439 c1238 (Link to this contribution) I may be on my own, but I happen to have the advantage of being in the right, which is not something...
Diane Abbott | 439 c1284 (Link to this contribution) : Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Gregory Campbell | 439 c1276 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman has to think the situation through. Let us say that the position is ...

Subjects

Access
Disability
Age
Disability Rights Commission
Commission for Racial Equality
Costs
Bureaucracy
Equality
Homosexuality
Human rights
Immigration controls
Gender
Information
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Equal Opportunities Commission
Harassment
Ethnic groups
Pay
Public appointments
Older people
Religion
Small businesses
Sexuality
Religious freedom
Research

Legislation

Equality Bill (HL) 2005-06

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top