Equality Bill

I am not addressing the issues about faith schools at this stage and it is confusing to do that. I promise that we will come to that. But I am keen, and it is very important, to stick to the issues with which we are now concerned. Faith schools are another difficult matter to which we will come later. In addition, the European principle of legal certainty requires that civil rights and obligations, such as the right to equal treatment without discrimination, be clearly stated and that the exceptions to the rights also be clearly stated so that the law is intelligible and accessible. We, and the Government, have to try our best to meet the principles of proportionality and legal certainty as law makers. A restriction on a right or freedom has to be a proportionate interference. There must be a reasonable relationship or proportionality between the means employed and the aim pursued. The European courts and our courts have made it clear that the means used to impair the right of freedom must be no more than is necessary to accomplish the legitimate aim. Here, we are concerned with the fair balance required between the fundamental right to respect for one’s private and family life without discrimination, and the fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Those rights are protected by Articles 8, 9 and 14 of the convention and by EU equality law. A core aspect of self-determination and individual autonomy is the protection conferred by Article 8 of the convention on sexual relations and what are called "proclivities", sexual orientation and identity, all of which are part of the core aspects of an individual’s private life. For example, decades ago the archaic law treating homosexual conduct as an offence, even if conducted in private and between mature and consenting adults, was held to be contrary to Article 8, and we had to change our law. The Bill protects gay and lesbian individuals against discrimination. But, like the regulations it replaces, it includes necessary exemptions to accommodate the fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, exceptions well recognised in the EU framework directive. In other words, the right to be protected against sexual orientation discrimination is not absolute. The same applies to freedom of conscience and religion. There are no absolutes here. The Strasbourg court has made it clear that the controlling doctrine is that of proportionality. A classic example was the case about the bar on homosexuals in the Armed Forces. Religious and other beliefs, and convictions, are part of the humanity of every individual, including atheists, agnostics, sceptics and the unconcerned. It is only the manifestation of religion or belief that may be subject to prescribed limits. That reflects the fact that the way that beliefs are expressed in practice is what can impact on others. Despite the protestations made by senior clerics, including those on the Benches here, I believe that the measures in the Bill accommodate the reasonable needs of the churches and other religious organisations to manifest their beliefs and to practice their faith in accordance with their beliefs, subject to the overriding requirement of proportionality. I find it astonishing and deeply depressing that the right reverend Prelates should find the principle of proportionality—a principle which is deep in Christian ethics—to be a principle to be removed from this Bill. I am, frankly, appalled that that should be the position.