Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

A report will be made not to the Equal Opportunities Commission, but to the police, who will carry out a full investigation. They will present what they find to the Crown Prosecution Service and then if, together, it is felt that there is sufficient evidence and it satisfies the public interest test, the Attorney-General can consider whether it is appropriate to bring a prosecution. All these safeguards are in place. I agree that it is important that we put in place safeguards to ensure that no over-zealous interpretation of the new offence, or of specific circumstances in which it may occur, inadvertently adds unnecessarily to tensions that may exist.