UK Parliament / Open data

Equality Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 11 May 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness Harman. The answering member was Baroness May of Maidenhead.
Equality Bill. Second reading debate. Amendment negatived on division (139 votes to 322). Main question agreed to. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third reading and any other proceedings. Agreed to on division (278 votes to 181). Queen's recommendation signified. Money resolution agreed to on question. Carry-over motion. Objection taken. Division deferred till 13 May 2009. Agreed to on division (331 votes to 136). [Relevant document: The Third Report of the Work and Pensions Committee on the Equality Bill: how disability equality fits within a Single Equality Act, HC 158-I.]
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
492 c553-655 
Session
2008-09
Department
Government Equalities Office
Legislative stage
Second reading
Procedure
Programme motions
Carry-over motions
Money resolutions
Queen's recommendation
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Equality Bill. In two volumes, with explanatory notes.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Bills
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-1657
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-1435
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-1433
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Show all related items (7)
Deposited Paper DEP2009-1434
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-1675
Friday, 12 June 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Baroness Harman | 492 c556 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I can reassure my hon. Friend that the Bill will do exactly that. A veil of secrecy over pay al...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c556 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. and learned Lady not see that if we require the measure to be consulted on in th...

Show all contributions (222)
Baroness Harman | 492 c556 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more strongly with my hon. Friend. Although the lion's share of caring for childre...
Lyn Brown | 492 c556 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. and learned Friend assure me that the Bill will finally ban secrecy or gagging cl...
Baroness Harman | 492 c557-8 (Link to this contribution) That is why we have acted to bring transparency not only to the private sector but to the public sec...
Baroness Harman | 492 c556-7 (Link to this contribution) No, it will not. We would like to achieve our aim through voluntary action, but if we cannot, we mus...
Lord Bellingham | 492 c557 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Leader of the House for giving way, because she knows that I have bee...
Diane Abbott | 492 c556 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend. Does she agree that if the general public are wat...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c558 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. and learned Lady give way?
Baroness Harman | 492 c558 (Link to this contribution) I am about to address the question of breastfeeding. Would the hon. Gentleman like to intervene on t...
Baroness Harman | 492 c558-9 (Link to this contribution) Okay. Labour has a proud record of backing mothers at work, but we also do everything that we can t...
Philip Davies | 492 c559 (Link to this contribution) As one who opposes all forms of discrimination, I have a lot of sympathy with the right hon. and lea...
Baroness Harman | 492 c558 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Sandra Osborne).
Sandra Osborne | 492 c558 (Link to this contribution) Does the Leader of the House agree that, although tremendous progress has been made through all-wome...
Speaker | 492 c553 (Link to this contribution) I have selected the amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition.
Baroness Harman | 492 c553 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. For us, equality matters because it is righ...
Andrew Selous | 492 c553-4 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way. I have a very serious point to raise with he...
Baroness Harman | 492 c553 (Link to this contribution) I will give way during my speech, but I am afraid that it is quite a long one; the hon. Gentlemen mi...
Baroness Harman | 492 c554 (Link to this contribution) If a job was to teach Polish, for example, that might well be why the employer needed to recruit suc...
Speaker | 492 c554 (Link to this contribution) Order. Let the Leader of the House speak for a while. Perhaps then she will take interventions.
Baroness Harman | 492 c554 (Link to this contribution) Just as we give real help to people now, we need to give real hope for the future, and that hope is ...
Baroness Harman | 492 c555 (Link to this contribution) There is certainly discrimination, and the Bill provides more opportunity to tackle it. There is cer...
Mark Pritchard | 492 c555 (Link to this contribution) As ever, I am grateful to you for your advice, Mr. Speaker. I am concerned that the Bill is not rea...
Speaker | 492 c555 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Leader of the House has given way now, so let us hear what the hon. Gentleman has to say....
Mark Pritchard | 492 c555 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Lady for giving way. I think that there have been 15 att...
Baroness Harman | 492 c555 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Baroness Harman | 492 c554-5 (Link to this contribution) I will get to the points about positive discrimination and positive action further on in my speech—[...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c554 (Link to this contribution) Under the terms of the Bill, will it be possible for an employer to choose to employ a white woman r...
Linda Gilroy | 492 c560 (Link to this contribution) There are some concerns about the issues raised by Saga, which is keen for there to be exemptions in...
Baroness Harman | 492 c561 (Link to this contribution) The transparency that is provided will enable us to see the progress that is being made by public au...
David Winnick | 492 c560 (Link to this contribution) The measure is indeed excellent. As my right hon. and learned Friend said, it continues the work of ...
Baroness Harman | 492 c560 (Link to this contribution) There will be a consultation, as my hon. Friend requests. There will be able to be exemptions, secto...
Baroness Harman | 492 c560 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend will know, when we outlawed discrimination against older people in employment, the...
Baroness Harman | 492 c561 (Link to this contribution) The Solicitor-General, who knows her onions on the law, and the Under-Secretary of State for Justice...
Baroness Harman | 492 c561 (Link to this contribution) The one thing that the Tories were able to do in all their years in government was to pick up the pr...
Lynne Jones | 492 c561-2 (Link to this contribution) One area where there is a great deal of hidden discrimination is in the employment recruitment proce...
Baroness Harman | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) Employers cannot ask questions such as my hon. Friend describes to discriminate against a person, bu...
Baroness Harman | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) I think that such discrimination is already outwith the law.
Jeremy Corbyn | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will be aware that one of the biggest types of discrimination all around the world is b...
Baroness Harman | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) I shall press on and then come back to my hon. Friend in a moment.
Lynne Jones | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way to allow me to make some further points?
Baroness Harman | 492 c563 (Link to this contribution) I have already given way to my hon. Friend, who made an excellent intervention, so I shall let her r...
Baroness Harman | 492 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) I have already talked about increasing the representation of women in public life, and I am just abo...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c562 (Link to this contribution) The Speaker's Conference, which considers the under-representation of minorities in this place and i...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c577 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her support, because she has done outstanding work on the issue....
Emily Thornberry | 492 c577 (Link to this contribution) I speak as the chair of the all-party group on maternity, and I add my voice to the concerns being e...
Lord Goodman of Wycombe | 492 c574 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady refers to the briefings that she had received, which gives me a chance to raise ...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c574 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely interesting point. There is no doubt that there are occasions...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c574-5 (Link to this contribution) I hope the right hon. Lady will not be surprised to know that I agree with many of her comments, inc...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c575 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman. I do not think there would be much disagreement in any par...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c575 (Link to this contribution) I agree with everything that the right hon. Lady has said so far. Does not the example that she has ...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c575-6 (Link to this contribution) I disagree with the hon. Lady on that point for the reasons so eloquently expressed by the Leader of...
Linda Gilroy | 492 c576 (Link to this contribution) I join my right hon. Friend in welcoming that provision. Does she agree that it has proved very diff...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c576-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right—in fact, I recall getting some sense of the work of that local st...
Patricia Hewitt | 492 c573-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be able to participate so early in this debate. I very warmly congratulate my ri...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c573 (Link to this contribution) No, I am coming to a—[Hon. Members: "Peroration."] My hon. Friends are flattering me by calling it a...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c570 (Link to this contribution) I will make one further point, and then I will give way to my hon. Friend. As I have said, on a num...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c571 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. Just for the record, is she aware—I suspe...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c571-3 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. They are, indeed, two very good candidat...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c571 (Link to this contribution) As I was about to tell the House, if the Conservative party wins the next general election by only o...
Evan Harris | 492 c585 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making it clear that it is not all Opposition Members who will op...
Julie Morgan | 492 c585-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention and urge the Conservative party to support the Bill...
Colin Breed | 492 c587 (Link to this contribution) I agree very much with the hon. Lady's last few remarks. Does she agree that that issue is particula...
Julie Morgan | 492 c587 (Link to this contribution) The general feedback that I have received from many bodies is that children and young people's views...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c584 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and the Bill is an important foot solider in that regard. It sends out a clear and deter...
Mark Harper | 492 c584-5 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) made it clear that we welcome many measure...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c582-4 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman made a ridiculous point. Let us move on to age. Three cheers for what the Go...
Vera Baird | 492 c584 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely right. We have to change the culture.
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c582 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady seriously making the worrying suggestion that if more women were on the boards of t...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c582 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but banking is not going so well. If we brought oth...
Roger Berry | 492 c581 (Link to this contribution) In that context, does the hon. Lady agree that it is simply unacceptable that the Ministry of Defenc...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c581-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree. I turn to positive action. It seems completely illogical that we should be allowed to fast...
Evan Harris | 492 c581 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a good suggestion, which I hope the Government will take on board. Does she ...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c581 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. When Ms Brewer made her announcements, I felt that the message was rather along the line...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c578 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; she is most gracious. Does she accept that the l...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c578-81 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. We Liberal Democrats are trying hard to support the meas...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c577-8 (Link to this contribution) The passion that drives and motivates Liberal Democrats—that beats in our hearts—is our quest for, a...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c566-7 (Link to this contribution) No; I did say that I wanted to make some progress. The main problem with the Bill is that it has so...
Robert Syms | 492 c567 (Link to this contribution) On the point about socio-economic groups, is it not terribly important that the next census has the ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c567 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made an extremely valid point, and I agree that we cannot make any moves unless t...
Evan Harris | 492 c567 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady agree that the best way to deal with inequality in relation to wealth is no...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c567 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to mention one policy of ours that would tackle that issue: it is to change the working t...
Roger Berry | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Would the right hon. Lady care to name the organisations that have ...
Speaker | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think the hon. Gentleman now recognises the mistake that he has made.
David Heath | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady give way?
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to listen to my speech; he will then learn exactly what our co...
Emily Thornberry | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) I apologise that I, too, missed the third paragraph of the right hon. Lady's speech. I also apologis...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Lady's late arrival in the Chamber means that she has not read the Order Paper. I s...
Linda Gilroy | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady not think that the simplification of the legislation is precisely what we n...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) I can only assume that the hon. Lady was not listening to the third paragraph of my speech, in which...
Roger Berry | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) I have read the Order Paper, and I note that the Opposition's amendment""declines to give a Second R...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c566 (Link to this contribution) I will give way for a third time, then I must make some progress.
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c564-5 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Equality Bill because it fai...
Baroness Harman | 492 c563-4 (Link to this contribution) Let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that I do not think that the Bill will have the effect that he de...
Evan Harris | 492 c563 (Link to this contribution) There is much in the Bill that I support, but is the right hon. and learned Lady aware that extendin...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c570 (Link to this contribution) I have said that I am going to make some progress.
Speaker | 492 c570 (Link to this contribution) Order. The right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) has made it quite clear that she is not going...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c569 (Link to this contribution) I want to finish this point. I did not say that the proposals in the Bill were impossible to impleme...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c569 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's interpretation of what I said is not entirely accurate. What I want is a change...
Parmjit Dhanda | 492 c569 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Lady. I hope that she enjoys her drink of water. I have been listen...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c569 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman so that I can have a drink of water.
John Bercow | 492 c568-9 (Link to this contribution) I am extraordinarily grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. May I beg to differ with my ho...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c569 (Link to this contribution) I have to say to my hon. Friend that I believe a proportionate response is necessary, which is what ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c568 (Link to this contribution) May I respond to my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) first? I entirely...
John Bercow | 492 c568 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend allow me?
Lord Bellingham | 492 c568 (Link to this contribution) Surely what my right hon. Friend is saying makes a great deal of sense. What we should do is move to...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c567-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I did say that I was going to make some progress, and I am aware that many Members wish to speak...
Roger Berry | 492 c599 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I welcome the Bill most warmly, and I congratulate my righ...
Roger Berry | 492 c599 (Link to this contribution) I looked carefully for advice from the CBI on how I should vote today, as I always do. I listen to e...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c599 (Link to this contribution) Of course everybody welcomes the parts of the Bill that consolidate previous legislation and do exac...
Roger Berry | 492 c600 (Link to this contribution) I am so grateful for that most welcome intervention. The only organisation that any Member in the Ho...
Philip Davies | 492 c599 (Link to this contribution) May I commend to the hon. Gentleman a marvellous organisation, of which I am proud to be a member, c...
Roger Berry | 492 c600 (Link to this contribution) I am well aware that there are Members in all parts of the House, including the hon. Member for Dave...
Speaker | 492 c600 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) knows the correct way to conduct himself in parli...
Roger Berry | 492 c601-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree that we need to look at all these matters carefully, and I welcome the hon. Gentleman's inte...
Bob Spink | 492 c600-1 (Link to this contribution) May I assure the hon. Gentleman that he has the support of this party, even though this party is a o...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c603-4 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry), who is a sincere man who has ach...
Anne Begg | 492 c602 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that recognition of the work of the Speaker's Conference. I apol...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c604 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to take a further intervention if the Solicitor-General thinks that I have got the wrong ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c604 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I am grateful to the Solicitor-General for that clarification. My concern is that, in th...
Vera Baird | 492 c604 (Link to this contribution) I see the cause of the hon. Gentleman's worry, but it would not be right to say that the Bill will a...
Vera Baird | 492 c605 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c605 (Link to this contribution) I think that the Solicitor-General is mistaken. Clearly, the provision could be used in that way, gi...
Vera Baird | 492 c604-5 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman is finding the discussion fruitful, which is what it is intended to b...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c590 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that there will be a net profit to UK plc?
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c589-90 (Link to this contribution) Not in detail, but I think we got to the right outcome in the end. I felt that there was a certain ...
Desmond Turner | 492 c592-3 (Link to this contribution) When the Bill was published, I really thought that we would be conducting not so much a debate as a ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c591-2 (Link to this contribution) I am quite sure that there will be cost savings in the long run, and that the situation will settle ...
Julie Morgan | 492 c587-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I thank my hon. and learned Friend for that intervention. One issue that young people complain...
Roger Berry | 492 c589 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman care to remind the House of the circumstances that led to the introduction ...
Lord Boswell of Aynho | 492 c588-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a personal pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan), for two reaso...
Desmond Turner | 492 c593 (Link to this contribution) I am happy that areas of disagreement can be debated, but that is different from throwing the whole ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c593 (Link to this contribution) We do have a large degree of consensus, but why is it wrong for us to debate the parts of the Bill o...
Vera Baird | 492 c593 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend is right and we have left some things out, of course we will put them in. I am gra...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c596-7 (Link to this contribution) Well, that was a very helpful contribution to the debate! I am particularly concerned about the eff...
Vera Baird | 492 c596 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure what the matter is with the hon. Lady—but I have given her a chance to calm down now, ...
Colin Breed | 492 c595 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. Would he apply the same logic to people trying to get driv...
Desmond Turner | 492 c594-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. and learned Friend for her helpful response. As she says, it is possible to infer th...
Vera Baird | 492 c593 (Link to this contribution) And assiduous, as the hon. Gentleman says. In addition to the list of public authorities, there is ...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c597 (Link to this contribution) We have heard a lot about the costs to business, but does the hon. Lady think that business might su...
Judy Mallaber | 492 c641 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman done any research on exactly how many employers have been found guilty? We kn...
Mark Harper | 492 c641-2 (Link to this contribution) It is for the Government to prove their case. Clearly, the hon. Lady has concerns about the way the ...
Roger Berry | 492 c642 (Link to this contribution) How would blocking the Bill by voting for the Opposition amendment solve the problem?
Mark Harper | 492 c642 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman just waits until I finish, he will hear—
Mark Harper | 492 c642-4 (Link to this contribution) No, because I want to come to that at the end of my speech, for which the hon. Gentleman will have t...
Vera Baird | 492 c644-7 (Link to this contribution) I will write to the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper), if I may, about the Polish matter, ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c647 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. and learned Lady for giving way. She knows perfectly well that the joke by my hon. ...
Vera Baird | 492 c647 (Link to this contribution) I am really sorry; I have wound the hon. Lady up again. I suspect that it is Shipley, not Maidenhead...
Mark Harper | 492 c639-41 (Link to this contribution) We have had a good debate in which many Back Benchers from both sides have spoken. Many drew attenti...
David Kidney | 492 c638-9 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Poole (Mr. Syms) for leaving me time to speak. It is a ple...
Philip Davies | 492 c635 (Link to this contribution) Other hon. Members want to speak. I wish that this was a Friday and that I could take as many interv...
Tom Clarke | 492 c635 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Philip Davies | 492 c634-5 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. What on earth would be wrong with that? It seems to me that the people who are truly racist ...
Tom Clarke | 492 c635 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Philip Davies | 492 c636-7 (Link to this contribution) I have already dealt with the right hon. Gentleman, who has not been in the Chamber for the whole de...
Robert Syms | 492 c637-8 (Link to this contribution) I enjoyed the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), but did not entirely ...
Philip Davies | 492 c635-6 (Link to this contribution) As I have explained to the right hon. Gentleman, time is limited and other Members want to speak. I...
Tom Clarke | 492 c636 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 492 c632-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Lady. She makes a valuable point. I am pleased to see that dis...
Philip Davies | 492 c633-4 (Link to this contribution) If the Government decide to call something the Equality Bill, they expect everyone to support it bec...
Emily Thornberry | 492 c630 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that since 2002 Pride in Canterbury has been lobbying for Canterbury city co...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 492 c630 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady can read that in Hansard tomorrow, but I would be very grateful if the question I have...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c632 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the whole of the procurement chain being used in that way, but my concern is that there ma...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 492 c631-2 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention, which demonstrates that we need to take ...
Sharon Hodgson | 492 c630 (Link to this contribution) To ensure that the House is aware of this, will my hon. Friend clarify that Durham City was a Libera...
Mark Harper | 492 c630 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) has returned to the Chamber now, so ...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 492 c630 (Link to this contribution) I can clarify that easily for my hon. Friend; when Durham City was in existence, for the last six ye...
Evan Harris | 492 c625-9 (Link to this contribution) I would certainly agree that the Labour party had a very good record on equality up to the 1997 gene...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 492 c629-30 (Link to this contribution) I, too, apologise for not being present at the beginning of the debate. That was because of difficul...
John Bercow | 492 c623 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great respect to the hon. Lady's speech. I accept that the Bill is fundamentally...
Sharon Hodgson | 492 c623-5 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. Indeed, I think that those on our Front Bench agree...
Sharon Hodgson | 492 c621-3 (Link to this contribution) It may have been the making of my career, but I leave that to hon. Members to wonder at. At the tim...
Sharon Hodgson | 492 c621 (Link to this contribution) I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for your understanding and grace in giving me time to leave the Cha...
John Bercow | 492 c620 (Link to this contribution) I rather agree with that, and actually I think that that is true both of large companies and, to som...
Judy Mallaber | 492 c620 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the plans whereby it would be very easy to do a pay audit of a compan...
John Bercow | 492 c619-20 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I gave the example of women, but the right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to challenge me m...
Desmond Turner | 492 c618 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to hear the hon. Gentleman's remarks so far, but I want to correct him on a point of accur...
John Bercow | 492 c618 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to accept that remonstrance and correction. It was a belated conversion, but it was never...
Sandra Osborne | 492 c618 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is giving useful examples of the many advantages that the socio-economic duty wil...
John Bercow | 492 c618-9 (Link to this contribution) They would, and I hope that that will not arise and that there will be an opportunity in the course ...
Keith Vaz | 492 c619 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an eloquent speech. Wearing his other hat as someone who sits on the Sp...
Hywel Williams | 492 c609-12 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick), who made an interesting...
Judy Mallaber | 492 c612-5 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill and am pleased to speak in the debate. It is very important to bring together in ...
John Bercow | 492 c616-7;492 c616-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber), to whose candid contrib...
Judy Mallaber | 492 c616 (Link to this contribution) I was going to make the point that I would like further consideration of certain issues. They includ...
David Winnick | 492 c607-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a good suggestion for the Committee, which I am sure will be very interesting. To be subjec...
David Winnick | 492 c607 (Link to this contribution) I was listening to the hon. Gentleman, who expressed himself clearly, but I stand by every word I ha...
Jo Swinson | 492 c608 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman with great interest. Sadly, he is right about age discriminatio...
David Winnick | 492 c608-9 (Link to this contribution) Are we speaking for our respective age groups? As I said a moment ago, I am against discrimination o...
David Winnick | 492 c606 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) has put his views quite honestly and I ima...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c605-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Solicitor-General for that, but I do not think that it detracts from my fundame...
Vera Baird | 492 c605 (Link to this contribution) My understanding from business is that that is done already. For instance, if someone has an all-whi...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c605 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, because I am keen that we move towards a better understanding of a complicated Bill...
Baroness Harman | 492 c559 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked that question, because it gives me the opportunity to re...
Simon Hughes | 492 c560-1 (Link to this contribution) There is great support for what the Minister proposes, which is very positive. Can she confirm that ...
Tom Clarke | 492 c561 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. On the subject of disability, has she had time to reflect on ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c570 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I say to the Government once again that I hope they will consider ou...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c597-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Lady has a reasonable point; I cannot imagine quite how it would work in pract...
Roger Berry | 492 c602-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she and others are doing. The hon. Member for Hornsey and ...
Vera Baird | 492 c587 (Link to this contribution) I know that there is an issue to discuss about age discrimination and the under-18s, but I hope that...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 492 c596 (Link to this contribution) I am a committed campaigner for equality—I always have been, and I always will be—and I welcome most...
Bob Spink | 492 c607 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has mentioned race, age, and now sex discrimination. Does he believe that the Bil...
Baroness Harman | 492 c558 (Link to this contribution) One thing that was so important and encouraging about Scotland was the formation of the Scottish Par...
Baroness Harman | 492 c554 (Link to this contribution) I am going to press on. We really must make the most of every individual's talents and potential, w...
Julie Morgan | 492 c584 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this very important debate. I know that w...
Julie Morgan | 492 c585 (Link to this contribution) I think that everybody will see where the Opposition—the Conservative party—are coming from.
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 492 c568 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. If a company—
Desmond Turner | 492 c595-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I would, and, in fact, that is the current situation: when someone reaches 70, they just have t...
Baroness Featherstone | 492 c615;492 c616 (Link to this contribution) There is such a backlog, but there are no measures in the Bill to deal with it. Should we not have h...
Diane Abbott | 492 c563 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way on that point?
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 492 c606 (Link to this contribution) Either I expressed myself badly or the hon. Gentleman was not listening to my remarks. I made it cle...
Subjects
Disability
Candidates
Age
Breastfeeding
Women
Employment
Equality
Elections
Gender
Equal pay
Discrimination
Ethnic groups
Private sector
Public sector
Older people
Political parties
Racial discrimination
Older workers
Pregnancy
Religion
Wales
Welsh language
Sexuality
Retirement
Legislation
Equality Bill 2008-09 to 2009-10
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top