Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord, but that is perhaps not a great help to those who are being asked to decide on this matter at this moment. As the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Oxford said, it may well be that we need a new offence of disturbing religious services of any kind rather than merely Christian services, to which I suspect—though I know not—this amendment only applies. However, surely no one can doubt that religious services and religious devotions are entitled to a greater degree of protection against disturbance than, let us say, public meetings at Hyde Park Corner. Surely to propose to abolish, without any words of explanation, the present offence of disturbing a religious service without putting anything in its place is asking the House to do something ridiculous. For that reason, and because the amendment contains subsections (b) and (c) as well as subsection (a), I suggest to the House that this amendment must fail.