Equality Bill

Forgive me, and if I am wrong I apologise for wasting the time of the Committee, but in Clause 148, one talks about advancing equality for protected characteristics. The protected characteristics which are the basis of Clause 148 are described in subsection (6). You could not go back to subsection (4) because you would be tied to the exclusion of religion or belief in Clause 148. That may well be the reason why the Government have included this. I would be very worried that the general concepts would be excluded in religion or belief because there is no other definition of "protected characteristics" for the purpose of this clause. That is the problem for me at least.