Equality Bill [HL]

This is neither the time nor the place for a debate about faith schools or the existing pattern that has been established under our education legislation. I personally am not in agreement with the settlement that has now been reached. There are severe dangers to our secular society in the proliferation of faith schools unless strong measures are taken to ensure that our secular society combines together religious tolerance, freedom, equality, diversity and privacy. I recommend to anyone who thinks that that is easy a case I took in the Privy Council last year. In Tengur v Bishop of St Louis, Mauritius the Catholic schools were held by a unanimous Privy Council to have been acting unconstitutionally in imposing a religious quota in favour of Catholics rather than on the basis of merit in order to preserve the ethos of their schools. I believe that that kind of problem will arise under the Human Rights Act in some future context. But we are not here to debate any of that today. It is, however, very important for obvious reasons. Coming to the point, I welcome the introduction in the government amendment of the test of necessity—what is necessary having regard to the purpose of the establishment—which is a well-recognised test of proportionality. That is a welcome cutting down of the scope of what would otherwise have been a blanket exception for faith schools. I am sure that the Joint Committee on Human Rights will also be glad that its views have been taken into account. I hope that when we come later to other exceptions we can carry forward the same concept of proportionality. Meanwhile, I strongly support the Government’s amendment, subject to my broader reservations about the educational and faith school background. On Question, amendment agreed to. [Amendment No. 179A not moved.]