Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

The hon. Gentleman can read Hansard for himself if he wants to know the answer to that direct question. There was discussion, and there is a clear distinction to draw. A religious aggravation would essentially always exist in the first place whether or not expressly provided for in statute, and I accept that that has been quite effective. That is a very different thing, however, from the introduction of the concept of incitement to religious hatred as an offence per se. That distinction between the offence per se and the aggravation is an important one to bear in mind. I am mindful that others wish to contribute and do not wish to take up too much of the House’s time. I wish, however, to say a few words about the other amendments. On new clause 4, I was interested in the views of the hon. Member for Cannock Chase. He clearly comes at the point from a direction similar to that from which my hon. Friends and I come. I wonder whether his term ““offensive language”” is essentially different from the ““insulting”” language that is already part of the Public Order Act 1986. I wonder, indeed, whether there might be some practical considerations there. In broad terms, however, if this were an earlier debate on an amendment, I would have little difficulty with it. The question of the various definitions of religion provided, as the hon. Member for Beaconsfield said, a tremendously interesting and—at times—entertaining discussion in Committee. All that the hon. Gentleman really does here is highlight further the nonsense in the Government’s position and the difficulties that arose when they embarked on the position that they have insisted on taking. Finally, the amendments that would effectively introduce a crime of intent are interesting and should have been considered much earlier. That would be an important protection against the erosion of free speech, which concerns us. However, we have been round that course already, and I fear that those amendments will have little more joy than most of the others we have pursued today.