Charities Bill [HL]

I intervene on this amendment, although it might have been better had I intervened on Amendment No. 3 instead because I received a letter two days ago from a Mr Pravin Shah who is a Jain. I gather that he wrote to the noble Lord, Lord Bassam of Brighton, on the same day. It would be useful if the noble Lord’s answer were recorded in Hansard for the benefit of all. Mr Pravin Shah wrote to me that he was,"““particularly concerned to see that there is no discrimination against Jains and other religions which are similar to Jainism, but less well known in this country. I note that the new Charities Bill, while stating that one can have a religion that does not involve a belief in a god, does not actually contain any definition of religion or explain what criteria the Charity Commission are going to use in deciding whether something is a religion or not””." He says that he is deeply worried about that. In his letter to the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, which he was kind enough to copy to me, Mr Pravin Shah says that he is pleased that the Bill includes a belief in more than one God. He continues:"““I was naturally therefore very pleased to see that the government have now put into the new charities Bill a provision that says that a religion does not have to involve a belief in a god. However I was surprised that there was no definition of a religion””." He goes on to say:"““I would be grateful if you would kindly let been know how it is intended that the Charity Commission will now decide if something is or is not a religion?""““Is Jainism to be considered to be a religion after the passing of this Bill? What will happen to religions which are similar to Jainism, but are perhaps less well known in this country? What criteria will the Charity Commission apply?””" I would also like to know the answer to those questions. I have intervened at an early stage so that, if the Minister needs advice, he has time to get it. I know next to nothing about Jainism except that the very strict Jains wear masks over their noses and mouths in case they should accidentally breathe in a living organism. Very often, the strict ones sweep the path in front of them so that they do not accidentally kill anything. There is also the question of animism. I do not know whether anyone in this country at the moment practices animism, but it is practised in some parts of the world, in many different forms. Perhaps when he winds up at the end of this short debate, the Minister will be able to   answer the questions posed to him and to me by Mr Pravin Shah and also my points on animism.