Equality Bill

"Reasonable" is a legal expression that will be used as a test should this come to court. We are trying to clarify the Bill to make it clear that we would not expect the clergy who are mentioned in these amendments to be vulnerable to claims for discrimination. In Scotland, these amendments will maintain the status quo once the Bill is in force. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, said, these amendments are within the competence of the UK Parliament as this is discrimination law, not marriage law. I hope that that helps the noble Lord, Lord Wallace. However, these amendments should not be seen as discriminatory against transsexual people. They do not add anything new; nor do they remove anything. Transsexual people have rightly gained the ability to be legally recognised in their acquired gender. As in other situations, however, this is an area where the Bill should strike a balance. In striking that balance, we agree that, as under current law, people of faith who have the ability to solemnise marriages should not be forced to go against their strongly held personal religious convictions. Having taken this into consideration, the Government are very happy to accept and support Amendments 58A and 58B.