Equality Bill

My Lords, I also support my noble friend Lord Low’s amendment. Listening to this discussion takes me back even further to the Sex Discrimination Act, where there were various exemptions for the police over height requirements for certain jobs and goodness only knows what. We have moved a little way since then. I understand fully what my noble and gallant friend Lord Craig is saying. However, given the speed at which we are treating people with disabilities, people are living who might well not have lived in the past, We have a proportion of our population who have absolutely the same rights as the rest of us to lead a full and fulfilling life. I suggest that we follow the examples that have been given. It is not an absolute requirement. Clearly, reasonableness dictates what can and cannot be done. We already know that those who are in the armed services have been looked after, resettled and so on quite effectively. We are saying that entrance should not be blocked either. That is a very important point. I hope that the Minister will give some hope that this will be seen as part of our future behaviour and attitudes to everyone, whether or not they are disabled according to this huge range of so-called disabilities that we have now got—and we have heard how wide the range is these days—to lead full and satisfying lives.