Equality Bill

Debate on bills on Wednesday, 2 December 2009, in the House of Commons.

Equality Bill. Report stage debate. New clause 40, discussed with new clauses 3 to 6, 11, 17, 21, 22, 24 to 26, 33, 36 and 38, debated and agreed to. New clause 41, discussed with new clauses 7 to 10, 18, 19, 30 to 32, 35 and 43, debated and agreed to. New clause 42 agreed to. New clause 3 negatived on division (77 votes to 427). Some amendments made, others negatived. Third reading debate. Agreed to on division (338 votes to 8) and Bill passed. [Relevant Document: The Twenty-sixth Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Session 2008-09, Legislative Scrutiny: Equality Bill, HC 1113.]

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

501 c1111-233

Session

2009-10

Department

Solicitor General

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Equality Bill. Explanatory Notes Bill 5-EN also published.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Bills
House of Commons

Deposited Paper DEP2009-3111
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Deposited Paper DEP2009-3095
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Retention, use and destruction of biometric data: correspondence with Government. Human Rights Joint Select Committee twenty-seventh report with formal minutes and written evidence.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Vera Baird | 501 c1112 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Speaker | 501 c1112 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 3—Mandatory pay audits

Show all contributions (218)

Vera Baird | 501 c1120 (Link to this contribution) The Committee heard compelling evidence from disability organisations that disabled people are being...

Philip Davies | 501 c1120 (Link to this contribution) The Solicitor-General talks about how she is strengthening the burden of proof, but as an eminent la...

Vera Baird | 501 c1121-2 (Link to this contribution) I am really grateful to be called an eminent lawyer by one so knowledgeable as the hon. Gentleman, b...

John Penrose | 501 c1122-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for her constructive response and her willingness to provide and publish any ev...

Vera Baird | 501 c1124 (Link to this contribution) I was yesterday at a seminar organised by the EHRC on positive action, and it is absolutely in agree...

John Penrose | 501 c1122 (Link to this contribution) We welcome the intention behind Government new clause 40. It is fair to say that the Government have...

Vera Baird | 501 c1122 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, I am very happy to confirm that we will do all we can to ensure that the reassurance the ho...

John Penrose | 501 c1127 (Link to this contribution) Emphatically not. I am trying to ensure that people in Parliament and the world outside who might be...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1127 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not see that the 22 per cent. differential relates to women in work, and tha...

John Penrose | 501 c1125-7 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to accept the point behind the hon. Lady's remarks, which is that we absolutely have to g...

John Mason | 501 c1127 (Link to this contribution) I am concerned about the drift of the hon. Gentleman's argument, which has been to reduce to 1 per c...

John Penrose | 501 c1124-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that clarification. My concern is that in its written documentation, the EH...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1125 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that our progress has been poor compared with many of our neighbours,...

Rob Marris | 501 c1146 (Link to this contribution) As the successor to Enoch Powell as Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton, South-West, Is the hon. ...

Philip Davies | 501 c1146-7 (Link to this contribution) It may or may not still happen. The hon. Lady may have different experiences from me, and I shall no...

Rob Marris | 501 c1147 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Philip Davies | 501 c1146 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, which I appreciate, but I think he will accept that that is n...

Diane Abbott | 501 c1146 (Link to this contribution) The whole House shares the hon. Gentleman's concern that small businesses should not be overburdened...

Diane Abbott | 501 c1148 (Link to this contribution) I listened with interest to the concern expressed on the other side of the House for people with job...

Philip Davies | 501 c1147-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. He makes a powerful point, which is that an approach based o...

Sammy Wilson | 501 c1147 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that positive discrimination of the sort that he proposes has been exer...

Philip Davies | 501 c1147 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, but no. I am sure he will want to intervene about ot...

David Drew | 501 c1139 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that one of the most acute roles that equality reps can play is with rega...

John McDonnell | 501 c1139 (Link to this contribution) In an informal way, that is what is happening on the ground. The hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1139 (Link to this contribution) A little later we will deal with a group of provisions dealing with discrimination on the basis of c...

John McDonnell | 501 c1139-41 (Link to this contribution) The worst thing that can happen is that we enact this legislation without making it effective and th...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1141 (Link to this contribution) May I say that 21 or 100 would be fine?

Philip Davies | 501 c1144 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). I do not agree...

John McDonnell | 501 c1141-4 (Link to this contribution) That is extremely helpful. I shall now discuss amendment 33, which stands in my name. Ministers hav...

Philip Davies | 501 c1145 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that helpful intervention about the situation in Northern Ireland, which the hon. ...

Sammy Wilson | 501 c1144 (Link to this contribution) I understand the reasoning behind the hon. Gentleman's point, but does he recognise that in a place ...

John Mason | 501 c1145 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the evidence, historically, is that what he says is not the case...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1136 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to what will possibly be a helpful intervention.

Philip Davies | 501 c1136 (Link to this contribution) I admire the sense of humour that the hon. Lady has shown in asking the Equality and Human Rights to...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1135 (Link to this contribution) I do agree, and I thank the hon. Gentleman for his helpful intervention.

Philip Davies | 501 c1135 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady give way?

John McDonnell | 501 c1137-8 (Link to this contribution) This legislation has the potential to be a landmark Bill for the Government, and I welcome it overal...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1137 (Link to this contribution) We would do that in the same way as we would do it for any other purpose; we would evaluate it, audi...

Rob Marris | 501 c1137 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Lady explain how we would pick a hypothetical comparator without assuming what we were ...

David Howarth | 501 c1137 (Link to this contribution) The situation is even more extraordinary than that, because even for other aspects of sex discrimina...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1136-7 (Link to this contribution) Well, the unions could help the Equality and Human Rights Commission out of its current difficulties...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1130-2 (Link to this contribution) Let me start by dealing with the pre-employment questionnaires. We on the Liberal Democrat Benches w...

John Penrose | 501 c1132 (Link to this contribution) That was emphatically not what I was saying and it was not the intention of my remarks or the impres...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1133-4 (Link to this contribution) I totally disagree because the message and intention behind disclosure would affect all areas in whi...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1134-5 (Link to this contribution) Then of course I am equally concerned. I am concerned about all discrimination. However, those are n...

Philip Davies | 501 c1134 (Link to this contribution) It is the case.

John Mason | 501 c1135 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that such a measure could have helped to solve local authority pay problems...

Philip Davies | 501 c1134 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making her case powerfully, as she always does. She said that she was concerned abo...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1134 (Link to this contribution) If that were the case—

Philip Davies | 501 c1134 (Link to this contribution) I have the figures here.

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1127-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's argument very much minimises the size of the problem. I am concerned about 100 ...

John Penrose | 501 c1127 (Link to this contribution) The point that I am trying to make is that the pay differential is caused by all those different poi...

Speaker | 501 c1128 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is always a pleasure to listen to the hon. and learned Lady, but I hope that that interven...

John Penrose | 501 c1128-9 (Link to this contribution) The Solicitor-General is right that I have been focusing on direct discrimination up until now, and ...

John Penrose | 501 c1128 (Link to this contribution) I completely accept the hon. Lady's point that the differential still exists for those women. I am t...

Vera Baird | 501 c1128 (Link to this contribution) I am intervening now because we are debating a massive group of amendments and it is better to deal ...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1129-30 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman talks in any more detail about the costs of gender pay reporting, does he ...

John Penrose | 501 c1130 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I am very disappointed with that intervention, because I had hoped to make it clear...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1129 (Link to this contribution) Another statistic from the report that the hon. Gentleman has quoted from is that 60 per cent. of wo...

John Penrose | 501 c1129 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes an important point, which is akin to the point about ghettoisation. There might ...

Vera Baird | 501 c1168-70 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's gratitude. The question of phraseology remains, and I do not ...

John McDonnell | 501 c1170 (Link to this contribution) Will the evaluation be received in time for the consideration of this Bill in the Lords, so that the...

Vera Baird | 501 c1167 (Link to this contribution) I was about to point out that there is a clash of words. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is about ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1167-8 (Link to this contribution) Concessions by the Government have become so rare that they ought to be noted in interventions. I am...

Vera Baird | 501 c1172 (Link to this contribution) So far as I have got, that looks to be correct. My hon. Friend asked for guidance and I have done my...

Vera Baird | 501 c1170-2 (Link to this contribution) I do not know. We have been asking for the evaluation for some time. I was anxious to receive it bef...

John McDonnell | 501 c1172 (Link to this contribution) From a brief examination of my hon. and learned Friend's words, I suggest that the Filipinos working...

Vera Baird | 501 c1167 (Link to this contribution) The usefulness of the case—although it does not extend to the circumstances envisaged by my hon. Fri...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1167 (Link to this contribution) The Minister makes a point about employees transferred with TUPE protection, but the problem often a...

John Mason | 501 c1159 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Lady that we should be pulling people's pay up rather than down, but that crea...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1156-7 (Link to this contribution) First, I want to put on record my support for the Bill, which is a landmark piece of legislation tha...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1159 (Link to this contribution) There is indeed a problem in Leeds, and also in my constituency, where refuse workers are being aske...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1159 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that my hon. Friend has mentioned refuse collectors, probably in the light of the strik...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1158-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree. We know that in spheres of employment in which there is a high level of trade union organis...

Diane Abbott | 501 c1158 (Link to this contribution) We are in an era of declining levels of trade union organisation of the work force, which makes mand...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1157-8 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and I understand that regulations were published today on that issue. I have not had the opp...

John McDonnell | 501 c1157 (Link to this contribution) I agree. However, it is not only a case of not being equipped—there is also retaliatory action. We h...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1157 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is women workers such as cleaners, catering assistants and sh...

Diane Abbott | 501 c1157 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that class actions have proved very effective in places such as America? B...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1161 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that if we do not get such a measure in this Bill and should there be a cha...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1159-60 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that is a massive problem for local government and throughout the national health service and a...

Vera Baird | 501 c1163-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I think that there was some muddle there. I will say a bit more later, but I can confirm now th...

John Penrose | 501 c1163 (Link to this contribution) I have seen announcements from the EHRC saying that it would not be able to publish some of the deta...

Vera Baird | 501 c1166-7 (Link to this contribution) We have said many times why we think that the unintended consequences are much more far-reaching in ...

Vera Baird | 501 c1161-2 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate all the contributors, not excepting the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), on t...

Vera Baird | 501 c1162-3 (Link to this contribution) There will be compulsion in the public sector, and that will start the day this legislation comes in...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1162 (Link to this contribution) My key point was my concern about the lack of enforcement and the fact that a voluntary scheme is be...

Sammy Wilson | 501 c1152 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. That seems to be a trait among the equality industry ...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1150 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has gone on about the best person for the job, but does he agree with me—probably...

Philip Davies | 501 c1150-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady introduces into the debate the fact that what is best is a subjective matter. It there...

Philip Davies | 501 c1148-9 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree my hon. Friend, which is a rare thing for me to say, because nothing in my new clause...

Mark Harper | 501 c1148 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has referred to disability, but to give people who have a disability an equal chance ...

Philip Davies | 501 c1148 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I gave way to the hon. Lady. She usually makes a helpful and positive contribution t...

Philip Davies | 501 c1149-50 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and I urge the hon. Gentleman to support new clause 38, which would ensure that people were ...

John Mason | 501 c1149 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way again, and I am happy to meet him in the Tea Room to talk ...

Philip Davies | 501 c1149 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Lady misses my point: it is the Bill that introduces such nonsense into the deb...

Vera Baird | 501 c1149 (Link to this contribution) No; I was talking to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) and saying that the hon. G...

John McDonnell | 501 c1156 (Link to this contribution) I want to ensure that the House is fully clear about just how far we have compromised on this matter...

Gwyn Prosser | 501 c1156 (Link to this contribution) Again, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. In my view, the Government have moved the minimum amount ...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1153 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has caught me out. That is one of his amendments with which I do, sadly, agree. A...

Philip Davies | 501 c1152-3 (Link to this contribution) I take on board the hon. Gentleman's point. The information about the Equality and Human Rights Comm...

Gwyn Prosser | 501 c1153-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak to new clause 25 and amendment 34 in my name. Both are proposed changes that seek to r...

John McDonnell | 501 c1154 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend remind the House that when the Government became the Administration in 1997, we ...

Gwyn Prosser | 501 c1155-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A third fairly recent example is that of the Corporate Manslaugh...

John McDonnell | 501 c1155 (Link to this contribution) Apart from the fact that the Government seem to be isolated in this interpretation of the law, I rem...

Vera Baird | 501 c1175 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Speaker | 501 c1174 (Link to this contribution) That is not a matter for the occupant of the Chair. As the right hon. Lady will know, how long Minis...

Vera Baird | 501 c1174-5 (Link to this contribution) I have to answer on the whole of a vast range of proposals, and I have done so with what dispatch I ...

Vera Baird | 501 c1174 (Link to this contribution) Then I hope that the hon. Gentleman is satisfied with the discussion that he has managed to provoke....

Ann Widdecombe | 501 c1174 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In a situation in which we have limited time to debate a la...

Vera Baird | 501 c1173-4 (Link to this contribution) The obvious objection is that putting the regulations in primary legislation means that they cannot ...

Philip Davies | 501 c1174 (Link to this contribution) May I make it clear that I did not table my amendments with the intention of pressing any to a Divis...

Vera Baird | 501 c1173 (Link to this contribution) I heard my hon. Friend suggest that, and we have discussed it briefly here, but I do not think that ...

John McDonnell | 501 c1173 (Link to this contribution) I should like to express my gratitude that the Minister has at least taken on board the spirit of wh...

John McDonnell | 501 c1172 (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. and learned Friend moves on, may I ask something else about differential pay? It woul...

John Mason | 501 c1188 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that many posts would be excluded by the definition, but some people feel th...

Mark Harper | 501 c1188 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman, who served on the Public Bill Committee, anticipates some of my later remarks. M...

Mark Harper | 501 c1187 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I shall limit my remarks to the new clauses that are under co...

David Burrowes | 501 c1188-9 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share the concern of a wide spread of Christian denominations, from the Church o...

Andrew Selous | 501 c1188 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a double standard here? It seems to be in order for the Labo...

Mark Harper | 501 c1188 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, and he will not be surprised to learn that it has been made by a ...

Mark Harper | 501 c1185-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. In a moment I shall draw attention to the information from the ...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1185 (Link to this contribution) There is a great deal of information and evidence about the presence of caste discrimination in this...

Mark Harper | 501 c1184-5 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman's argument is really about whether there should be faith schools. I have ...

Mark Harper | 501 c1183 (Link to this contribution) Before I speak to the new clause, I want to say a brief word about timing—a point well raised by my ...

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1183 (Link to this contribution) In the light of what my hon. Friend has said, should not the Minister withdraw the remark that she m...

Speaker | 501 c1183 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before this matter proceeds any further, I think that the hon. Gentleman's comments clearly i...

Mark Harper | 501 c1183-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker; I am sure that my right hon. and learned Friend...

Evan Harris | 501 c1184 (Link to this contribution) I am intrigued by the way in which the hon. Gentleman is citing my argument. Is he saying that the b...

Mark Harper | 501 c1184 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is misrepresenting my remarks, I hope not deliberately. There are two specific si...

Evan Harris | 501 c1184 (Link to this contribution) I can see the point that the hon. Gentleman is making, but I shall put my point in the language that...

Vera Baird | 501 c1180-2 (Link to this contribution) These are miscellaneous but important new clauses and amendments. Many of them were tabled by the Op...

Speaker | 501 c1175 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 7—Harassment (sexual orientatio...

Evan Harris | 501 c1195-6 (Link to this contribution) We recognise that there is a problem. This is protected ground in employment. Why should vulnerable ...

David Howarth | 501 c1195 (Link to this contribution) I have had extensive contact over the past few years with organisations that deal with bullying. The...

Evan Harris | 501 c1195 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will see that new clause 9 contains a provision to extend protection from harassm...

Evan Harris | 501 c1194-5 (Link to this contribution) No, it is not, because protection from harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation is not availa...

Evan Harris | 501 c1193-4 (Link to this contribution) I want to deal first with new clause 7—and new clause 8, which is closely related—which calls for pr...

Andrew Selous | 501 c1194 (Link to this contribution) I speak as a governor of a voluntary controlled state school in my constituency. Is it not the case ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1193 (Link to this contribution) I understand your concern, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I can only say in reply that, as reported in Hans...

Speaker | 501 c1193 (Link to this contribution) Order. This does not help either. Perhaps Dr. Harris will now address his remarks to the amendments ...

Speaker | 501 c1193 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am reluctant to interrupt the hon. and learned Lady, but the point she is making is a debat...

Vera Baird | 501 c1193 (Link to this contribution) The facts are very straightforward: no Whips from any Opposition party asked our Whips for a second ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1192-3 (Link to this contribution) There are a lot of amendments in this group, and I know that many Members wish to speak to them, so ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1190 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The nub of the issue is that the Government cannot have it b...

Mark Harper | 501 c1189-90 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. The European Commission openly said that it had written a rea...

David Drew | 501 c1191-2 (Link to this contribution) This will be a short speech, as we have already covered much of the ground. I intend to press amendm...

Mark Harper | 501 c1190-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. This will obviously take some time and I apologise to ...

Mark Harper | 501 c1189 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I was just getting on to why we have ended up in this position, and from a ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1189 (Link to this contribution) Obviously.

Mark Harper | 501 c1189 (Link to this contribution) This is interesting, because I think that I am right in saying—the hon. Gentleman will correct me if...

David Drew | 501 c1189 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, seeing as we are discussing amendment 37 in some detail. ...

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1201-2 (Link to this contribution) Alas, the Solicitor-General is not prepared to help the House in that way, so I fear I must continue...

Vera Baird | 501 c1201 (Link to this contribution) indicated dissent.

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1201 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak to amendment 196 in my name. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members' ...

Sammy Wilson | 501 c1200 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

John Mason | 501 c1199-200 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Gentleman giving way again, but will he clarify his proposal? Is he saying tha...

Evan Harris | 501 c1200 (Link to this contribution) Schools cannot have it both ways. The faith organisations that run schools cannot tell the Public Bi...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1200-1 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak to amendment 53 and new clause 35, on the Scottish Gypsy Traveller communi...

Evan Harris | 501 c1200 (Link to this contribution) I will do so in a moment; I want to deal with this point, and then make sure that I finish very quic...

Sammy Wilson | 501 c1200 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has indicated that he has no difficulty with faith schools, but he suggested earl...

Evan Harris | 501 c1198 (Link to this contribution) Let us be clear: religious organisations have far more scope to restrict employment to people who sh...

Andrew Selous | 501 c1198 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman keeps returning to sexual orientation, but does not he understand that the curren...

Evan Harris | 501 c1198-9 (Link to this contribution) If we sign up to a treaty we have to abide by it, and the Commission gets legal advice about infract...

David Drew | 501 c1198 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, although we disagree about whether sexual orient...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1196 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman also concede that one of the problems is that people of lower caste who are ...

Evan Harris | 501 c1196-7 (Link to this contribution) I agree. It would be a great pity if we did not take the opportunity to tackle the problem in the Bi...

John Mason | 501 c1197 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman uses the term "drummed out". Does he accept that there is a difference between re...

Evan Harris | 501 c1197-8 (Link to this contribution) The directive states that the characteristic has to be""a genuine and determining occupational requi...

Lord Beith | 501 c1198 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend realise that many youth workers in churches have as their primary activity the e...

Evan Harris | 501 c1198 (Link to this contribution) If their job is promoting and explaining the doctrine of religion, and if their employment wholly or...

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1203 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Solicitor-General for that, but she must understand that the continued uncertai...

Vera Baird | 501 c1203 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry—clearly, I was being spoken to by someone else at the same time. I thought the right hon....

Vera Baird | 501 c1202-3 (Link to this contribution) As I listen to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, I find that he is not saying anything that I di...

Speaker | 501 c1204 (Link to this contribution) I call Miss Ann Widdecombe.

Rob Marris | 501 c1203-4 (Link to this contribution) I associate my remarks with those of the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) on c...

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1203 (Link to this contribution) Then I must, I am afraid, add a sentence or two. The Solicitor-General says that she understands the...

Vera Baird | 501 c1203 (Link to this contribution) The objective is the same, but we will not put it in the Bill. As I said, I cannot tell the right ho...

Ann Widdecombe | 501 c1204 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am almost tempted to say, "Hallelujah!" because I did not...

Jeremy Corbyn | 501 c1204 (Link to this contribution) Don't waste time.

Speaker | 501 c1225 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has put that on the record. He knows that it is not a point of order. It is dange...

John McDonnell | 501 c1225 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May I use this point of order to place on the record for th...

Speaker | 501 c1225 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady must know that she cannot plot Mr. Speaker's course on these matters. She must k...

Ann Widdecombe | 501 c1225 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I certainly would never criticise the Chair, but I think it...

Evan Harris | 501 c1225 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Can anything be done in situations such as this, where not ...

Speaker | 501 c1226 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord Rooker is no longer here to argue his point. I am sure that Mr. Speaker will have not...

Viscount Hailsham | 501 c1226 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You will doubtless know that the noble Lord Rooker has sugg...

Ann Widdecombe | 501 c1204-5 (Link to this contribution) I will not waste time. I shall speak to amendment 32, standing in my name, and to amendment 31, stan...

Vera Baird | 501 c1229 (Link to this contribution) I shall not detain the Chamber, but the clause that we have put forward now is stronger than the one...

Baroness May of Maidenhead | 501 c1228-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman needs to check his facts. We put down a reasoned amendment on Second Reading—[Int...

Rob Marris | 501 c1228 (Link to this contribution) I, too, very much welcome the Bill, but will the right hon. Lady explain why she and her party voted...

Baroness May of Maidenhead | 501 c1227-8 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I note that point, and I am sure that it will also be noted by those in the other place who ...

Nicholas Winterton | 501 c1227 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what my right hon. Friend has just said. Does she agree that much of what has h...

Baroness May of Maidenhead | 501 c1227 (Link to this contribution) I note my hon. Friend's concern about the lack of time allowed to debate certain aspects of the Bill...

Peter Bone | 501 c1227 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend advise the Opposition? Given that we have not had time properly to scrutin...

Baroness May of Maidenhead | 501 c1227 (Link to this contribution) I want to thank all hon. Members who have taken part in scrutinising this Bill at each of its stages...

Vera Baird | 501 c1226-7 (Link to this contribution) My understanding is that there is already a case about that, although at first instance I have not h...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1226 (Link to this contribution) I welcome everything that my hon. and learned Friend has said. She will recall that I raised an issu...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1229-30 (Link to this contribution) I thank colleagues on both sides of the House for their contributions in Committee and on Report. Th...

Baroness May of Maidenhead | 501 c1229 (Link to this contribution) I have to tell the hon. and learned Lady that it was only after we had pressed them on this point th...

Mark Pritchard | 501 c1230 (Link to this contribution) Some of us have concerns about supporting the Bill on Third Reading, not because of many of its elem...

Keith Vaz | 501 c1230 (Link to this contribution) Although there are obvious differences between those on the different party Front Benches, the comme...

John Mason | 501 c1230 (Link to this contribution) We certainly support the Bill. We believe that everyone is of equal value. It is disappointing that ...

John Mason | 501 c1195 (Link to this contribution) I am against all bullying in all schools, as I am sure all other hon. Members are. The hon. Gentlema...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1134 (Link to this contribution) That is not my understanding of the figures.

David Howarth | 501 c1166 (Link to this contribution) The theoretical possibility that the hon. and learned Lady just mentioned exists for all other terms...

Gwyn Prosser | 501 c1154-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Since Labour introduced the tonnage tax, the volume of traffic u...

Evan Harris | 501 c1200 (Link to this contribution) There are two questions: whether there should be a variety of providers delivering education or othe...

Lord Howard of Lympne | 501 c1203 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Solicitor-General for that, but at the outset of my remarks I offered her ...

Vera Baird | 501 c1226 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. I am pleased with the scrutiny and attenti...

Baroness Featherstone | 501 c1137 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that helpful intervention. One can never learn enough facts that can be u...

Philip Davies | 501 c1153 (Link to this contribution) A rare triumph! I have actually got a Member—a Liberal Democrat Member, I might add—to agree with me...

Evan Harris | 501 c1187 (Link to this contribution) I understand that the hon. Gentleman is speaking for himself and that it is his view that if one is ...

Philip Davies | 501 c1145-6 (Link to this contribution) There is plenty of evidence for my argument. I am quite happy to debate the merits or otherwise of t...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 501 c1161 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe that there is going to be a change of Government, so if we do not get such a measur...

Speaker | 501 c1226 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made that point earlier, if not in exactly the same words then in very similar wo...

Subjects

Disability

Disclosure of information

Care homes

Adoption

Buildings

Women

Employment

Equality

Health

Foster care

Education

Gender

Exemptions

Equal pay

Harassment

Discrimination

Pay

Recruitment

Minimum wage

Public sector

Public bodies

Older people

Local government services

Racial discrimination

Racial harassment

Pregnancy

Vetting

Religion

Small businesses

Trade unions

Religious freedom

Shipping

Travellers

Sexual harassment

Saga

Homophobia

Class actions

Legislation

Equality Bill 2008-09 to 2009-10

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk