Equality Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, for taking us in his inimitable way through the wider complexities of European law and regulation. I should like to return to that. Reference has been made to the reasoned opinion of the European Commission concerning the implementation in the UK of the EU equality and employment directives. I fully accept the assurance that Amendment 99A is not a response to that reasoned opinion, but is motivated by listening to the concerns of the churches and other faith communities and trying to meet them, for which I am grateful. However—there is always a "however"—there is a further sense in which the EU context is, I believe, both relevant and instructive. The only other two EU states against which infraction proceedings have been taken to date in connection with the employment framework directive and the equal treatment directive are Ireland and Germany. In Germany, concerns have been expressed by the churches which are very similar to those expressed in the Chamber today. In the light of those concerns, that part of the infraction proceeding dealing with the churches has been withdrawn for various reasons, the main one being that Germany, like many countries in Europe, has a written constitution with a self-determination clause for churches, and so the demands of the churches were deemed to be reasonable. In the UK, we lack such a written constitution, which is perhaps something to be regretted. However, where we stand at present is that implicit in the law as it stands is an acceptance of such faith community self-determination. My problem with the Bill, and the amendment tabled by Her Majesty’s Government, is this—and I think it is to this that the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, and others have alluded—that it takes us yet a further step away from such self-determination and in the direction of state, court or tribunal determination in matters which touch the very heart of religious faith and life. It is for that reason that I welcome the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, and I do hope that your Lordships will welcome them too.