Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Wedderburn, spoke of the doctrine of ““unripe time””. That has a place in some situations, but it is particularly important not to try to do too much in one Bill. It has been generally recognised that there has been a good deal of confusion about exactly what the Bill proposes. If the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, are encompassed in the Bill, the confusion will be even greater. In so far as the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Plant, is concerned, it seems perfectly possible for people to understand that the reason for rejecting the common law offence of blasphemy, were this amendment agreed to, was that the Bill replaces that law, whereas the Government have been very careful to point out as often as they can that it is quite different. The other point is that the foundation of the argument advanced on behalf of those not protected by the racial discrimination law is that it protects Sikhs and Jews in a way that it does not protect the other religions, including Christianity. That is one of the bases on which this Bill has been put forward. Those issues are not simple, and to complicate them in this way would be highly undesirable. I feel certain that if this amendment were agreed to, many would think that we had embarked on a very different course from that on which the Government believe they have embarked and on which we spoke earlier. I may be wrong, but I had the impression that this was the Government’s view in dealing with suggestions of amendments about blasphemy before. The second and third branches of these amendments require a good deal of consideration. One of the most damaging offences committed at the moment is desecration of religious cemeteries. Although the offences referred to in the amendments are not quite that, they are quite similar. I counsel caution in extending the scope of this Bill at this juncture.