I support what my noble friends have said. I hope that the Minister will not say, ““Well, this form of words is quite unnecessary””, because that is really not the point. There is enough evidence already that local authorities and other bodies over-react to the present law and there is a real fear that unless something is put on the face of the Bill, Bibles in hotel rooms and other places will disappear, simply because people will misinterpret the intention of the legislation.
I would like the noble Baroness so say that no possible harm could be done by adding the words in the amendment and that they may be helpful in making it plain to local authorities and others that something is going seriously wrong when Christians in this country feel that religious objects and books are being removed due to the unreasonable fear that they might cause offence to others.
Equality Bill [HL]
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Waddington
(Conservative)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 13 July 2005.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Equality Bill (HL).
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
673 c1127 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-21 23:57:48 +0100
URI
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