Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

My Lords, there have been some very impressive speeches this evening. This is a sensitive matter and it concerns Northern Ireland. For those reasons, I feel hesitant to dip my feet into the water, but I do so because I think that the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, is right to pray against these regulations. The Government are concerned that people should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. That is a perfectly reasonable point of view, but in their determination to see that that does not happen they are introducing regulations that will grossly discriminate against other people. As has been pointed out, the regulations fail to distinguish between same-sex attraction and homosexual activity. It is perfectly possible to show respect for the dignity of people who are attracted to a person of the same sex, but it is quite another thing to approve of homosexual activity. The churches do not do so and plenty of people who adhere to those churches do not do so either. The sexual orientation of a customer may be irrelevant to, for example, a shop assistant or a car mechanic, but it can be of considerable importance and relevance to others. We have heard the examples of the person who lets out a room and refuses to allow a gay couple to take it, the photographer who refuses to photograph a civil partnership ceremony and the printer who refuses to print a leaflet advertising a gay ceremony. They could all be prosecuted. These regulations are installing new rights for homosexual people which override the existing rights of others who are perfectly entitled to their views and their religious opinions. Part of the anxiety is due to the provisions in the regulations which make harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation illegal. Harassment is a subjective matter, depending on the perception of the person bringing the claim. If a person feels that his dignity has been violated and that someone has created a hostile, humiliating or offensive environment, he can sue. An organisation which is sued will be involved with legal costs in defending itself and possibly compensation. If that happens more than once or twice, such repeated actions can result in the business going into liquidation. That cannot be right. The Government said that it was not appropriate to legislate for harassment within the regulations, but that is precisely what they have done. In analysing the results of the consultation, the Government say that there seems to be some misunderstanding about what they intend. With the greatest respect, it does not matter what the Government intend; it is what the law says that matters; it is what the local authority official or the local lawyer reads into what is written that matters. They will say, ““The regulations say this and so we are right to do that””, or, worse, ““The regulations say this, so we must do that””. They are the ones who will enforce—a word which the Government love—the regulations. I believe that there is enough in the content of the regulations to make them quite inappropriate for passing into law. What about the circumstances of their introduction?