Equality Bill

My Lords, I thank the Minister for a long response. I also thank all noble Lords from across the House for an extremely interesting and lively debate. I want to make a number of points. First, unfortunately, there is a disturbing level of discussion which appears to me like a class war. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, referred to some extremely interesting statistics, which are relevant. The noble Baroness, Lady Greengross, referred to some principles, which are extremely important. However, I am concerned about the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Gould of Potternewton, who appeared to say that those who oppose the clause oppose the principle of that equality. Such comments are disturbing, as are the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Wedderburn. To suggest that those on these Benches are against the principle of equality is deeply concerning, as is the caricature of those on these Benches. On a very personal note, I am the daughter of an immigrant mill worker from west Yorkshire—a type that some would like to suggest would not be sitting on these Benches. But I would argue that none of us is of a type to sit on any particular Benches. What brings me here is opportunity. Outcome is what my mother would refer to as kismet—a word to which, unfortunately, I cannot do justice by giving a definition in any language other than Urdu. But opportunity—and equal opportunity, I would suggest—is more than an aspiration, it is a right, and therefore should form part of a duty. Much discussion was about aspiration without opportunity. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Graham, for his kind comments, but he referred to aspirations being relevant without necessarily being realisable or achievable. I would suggest that nothing is more disheartening or demoralising then having aspirations without any real opportunity to realise them. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Morris, mentioned that. The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, referred to aspirationals being referred to in previous legislation. I may not be entirely correct on this, but I understood that he was referring to legislation giving an electricity company a duty to supply electricity. I suggest that that is the purpose of an electricity company, and therefore is not simply aspirational but something that it can achieve and therefore deliver. Clearly, more clarification is required. I touch briefly on the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Lester, who, as I said earlier, referred to this clause on Second Reading as, ""vague, unworkable, and an exercise in political window-dressing".—[Official Report, 15/12/09; col. 1416.]" The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, says that the noble Lord, Lord Lester, appears to have slightly changed his mind. The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, refers to a shift having taken place. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, says that he is now convinced slightly otherwise by his left-wing Irish friends, who have convinced him to take a different opinion.