Equality Bill [HL]

Without question. So far as the dignity of an Earl is concerned, I can tell the noble Earl that he would have a remedy only if the purpose or effect of whatever was on the basis of his religion or belief. I do not think that he would have a remedy otherwise. But I would never dream of violating his dignity any more than he would mine—if I had any, and I am not sure that I do. I know this measure comes from European law in the employment field. One can just about get away with this vagueness in the employment field because the dignity of a worker is somehow something that one can get used to interpreting. But we are discussing goods, services and facilities—services to the public. This is the kind of thing that worries me. A member of my Chambers wears a headscarf. We have no problem about her wearing a headscarf in court, but suppose she found herself in the Netherlands. There, decent progressive female judges have told me that they would never dream of allowing a court official to wear a headscarf because it would violate the notion of equality before the law. What worries me—especially in the sensitive area of religion and belief and especially in the terrible times in which we live—is that this is creating a civil wrong of a very vague kind. If the concept of dignity is so broad that it could include such a sensitive area, just like that, the exceptions in the clause do not tackle that problem. This is why I am unhappy about Part 2 being included in the Bill at all because I wish that there had been much more time for thought on these kinds of issues. I find myself sympathising with the noble Earl. What I am really concerned about is, apart from anything else, reasonable legal certainty. I see the problem about achieving reasonable legal certainty, but I shall leave the matter at this point by saying that when we come back at Report, we will need something much more concrete to guide us as to what ““dignity”” does and does not mean. If it was left entirely for the courts to decide, what we are really saying is that the courts could invent a tort for civil wrong and the exceptions to it. As much as I admire our judiciary, that is not a fair thing to do. It is Parliament that ought to get it right—and I suspect that the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, and I are absolutely at one on that. I hope that we can think more about the matter, and come back to it on Report with more guidance from the Government. Meanwhile, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.