Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

The hon. Gentleman is correct and is assisting me greatly. The reason why the Government oppose amendment No. 1 and why we would have done so had it been tabled in Committee is that the offence as drafted in clause 107 seeks, for the purposes of making sure that we properly protect freedom of speech, to pitch the offence at the highest level. So we are not talking about insulting words or behaviour. We are talking about threatening words or behaviour intended to incite hatred against a group of people on the basis of their sexuality. That is very narrow and very clear. Although I appreciate the concerns expressed by many of those who have been quoted, they evidently have not read the Committee proceedings. We believe that clarity is preserved in the clause as it stands.