Equality Bill

The case for retaining the words of the Bill is that both internationally and in this country religion is increasingly a marker of identity. Religion is not just a disembodied, wispy, platonic idea; it is embodied in people who have particular physical characteristics and those are seen by the wider public as having an identity. All sociologists would now recognise that one of the major features of the modern world is the way that religion has become a marker of identity, and therefore that is a strong argument for retaining the words in the Bill.