Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

As one of the signatories to the amendments I would like to say a few words. I agree with what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lyell, said and I do not have much to add to the positive case for the amendments. He put it much better than I could have done. I am sure that the Government are entitled to a Bill on incitement to religious hatred. It was a manifesto commitment. But as we see already in the debate over the Bill to deal with tobacco smoking, there is more than one way to meet a manifesto commitment. The division that would emerge from these amendments between the racial hatred legislation and the religious hatred legislation would enable the Government to meet their aims more effectively than the present Bill. The other relevant factor is that we all have to accept, whether we support the Bill or not, that there is a great deal of confusion about what it entails. Many people say that it does not abridge or have a chilling effect on freedom of speech; other people think that it does. Part of that confusion is itself the result of the rather complicated statute that would emerge through merging the two pieces of legislation. It would be better and less confusing. It is curious that, according to Ministers and Government supporters, some of the brainiest lawyers in the House—I am not a lawyer; I have been called many things in my time, but not a lawyer—seem incapable of understanding the Bill. If that is true of such eminent lawyers, how much more evident is it going to be to people outside this House who are dealing with these matters at a less elevated level? There is a case for clarifying the nature of the Bill and the amendments would do a great deal to achieve that.