Equality Bill

My Lords, this is not a taxing or a penal statute; this is a remedial statute, and it is to be approached in a liberal way. The principle of proportionality is a two-stage process. The first stage is that one must show that there is a legitimate aim; the second is to show that the means employed are reasonably necessary to achieve the aim. One does not need to raise the bar or to treat this as a coercive provision to be strictly construed because it is very important—the most reverend Primate has already indicated this—that the gateway into using these voluntary measures of affirmative positive action to overcome disadvantage and the effects of past discrimination is showing that it is a reasonable view. The word ““reasonable”” has an objective meaning. It means that you cannot take leave of your senses. Reason has to be applied. As regards the term ““reasonably thinks””, the first stage, which is the easy stage, is to show that there is a legitimate aim. As I said earlier, the legitimate aim is spelt out in the Bill. If one were to raise the bar, it would completely stultify the effect of these voluntary provisions. I have said before that when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and introduced in 1989 far more radical and coercive measures that still apply, have worked for 70 per cent of the workforce and have reduced discrimination against Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, there was no approach of this kind, which, frankly, is inappropriate in a remedial statute. I should have thought that if the Conservatives win the election and govern the country, they would welcome the fact that these positive-action provisions will be taken up voluntarily by the private and public sectors. We can then begin to deal with patterns and practices of unjust discrimination in a more positive way, avoiding the need for unnecessary individual litigation. I cannot put it as well as the most reverend Primate who spoke from a common-sense, non-lawyer point of view, but it is absolutely vital that we keep the threshold as it is.