Parliamentary search - Equality Bill

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

716 c518-66,574-600

Session

2009-10

Department

Government Equalities Office

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords chamber

Equality Bill. Brought from the Commons. Explanatory Notes HL Bill 20-EN also published.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Bills
House of Lords

Deposited Paper DEP2010-0074
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Deposited papers
House of Lords

Deposited Paper DEP2010-0100
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Deposited papers
House of Lords

Proceeding contributions

Baroness Warsi | 716 c522-4 (Link to this contribution) In Amendment 21 we want to replace "because" with "on the grounds of", which we think is better beca...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c522 (Link to this contribution) 21: Clause 13, page 7, line 5, leave out "because" and insert "on the grounds"

Show all contributions (147)

Baroness Warsi | 716 c521-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for her reply. I am heartened to hear the position in relation to exemptions fo...

Bishop of Chichester | 716 c521 (Link to this contribution) I, too, would like to resist this amendment. The inclusion of the word "philosophy" is really rather...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c521 (Link to this contribution) No. I thought I made it clear in my remarks to the noble and learned Baroness that this does not cha...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 716 c521 (Link to this contribution) For the past 30 years at least, the Church of Scientology has not been accepted as a church. I did n...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c520-1 (Link to this contribution) The amendment concerns matters of religion or belief and would prevent beliefs of a philosophical na...

Baroness Turner of Camden | 716 c520 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I hope that my noble friend will not agree to this amendment. I am a member of the British...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c518-20 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, this amendment effectively leaves out the words "or philosophical" from the definition of ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c518 (Link to this contribution) 20: Clause 10, page 6, line 11, leave out "or philosophical"

Lord Ouseley | 716 c524-5 (Link to this contribution) I am putting forward the amendments to make what I consider to be a very simple amendment to replace...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c524 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the Opposition are perfectly right to raise this point, just as my colleagues in the Commo...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c527 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord for that question, which is very helpful. I am assured that we have checked t...

Lord Elton | 716 c527 (Link to this contribution) Since we are considering the comprehension of the supposed reader of the Bill, if the person reading...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c526 (Link to this contribution) The amendments in this group share a common purpose. However, I shall begin with Amendment 21, which...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c526-7 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister confirm one thing? It is really important. She mentioned European equality law. I r...

Lord Ouseley | 716 c525 (Link to this contribution) I do not have an example to hand but I shall certainly try to let the noble Lord have that before th...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 716 c526 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I also support the amendment, and particularly the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley....

Baroness Thornton | 716 c527 (Link to this contribution) I was not sure whether I was being asked a question or told something—I beg the pardon of the noble ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c527-8 (Link to this contribution) I am still concerned, my Lords. I hear the Minister’s detailed explanation and I appreciate her deta...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c528 (Link to this contribution) 22: Clause 13, page 7, line 6, at end insert— "( ) Discrimination does not include marketing or prom...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c528-30 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak also to the other amendments tabled in my name in this group. We have tabled these ame...

Baroness Greengross | 716 c533 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I declare an interest in that the founder of Saga and his son were both very good friends ...

Lord Davies of Coity | 716 c530 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I wish to make a contribution on this amendment. However, I will not say what my stance wi...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c530-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I hope that it is appropriate for me to make a declaration of interest on behalf of all Me...

Baroness Knight of Collingtree | 716 c531-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the Government made a rod for their own back by having such an immensely complicated Bill ...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c534-5 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that I do not have the answer to satisfy the noble Baroness. The problem is that if she re...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 716 c535 (Link to this contribution) I have not yet found the power to do this by regulation in the Bill, although I am sure that it is t...

Baroness Howe of Idlicote | 716 c533-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I support the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Knight, for very many of t...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 716 c534 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, perhaps to address the balance and to comfort the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, I should say...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c535-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Baroness—that is very helpful. I am sure that the whole House is looking forward t...

Baroness Knight of Collingtree | 716 c538 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I express my thanks for what has just been said. It will be read outside this House, as we...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c535 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps before the Minister speaks, I should clarify that I referred to Amendment 80 in my notes, wh...

Lord Elton | 716 c538 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Baroness has given many examples from the commercial world. Declaring an interes...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c538 (Link to this contribution) I am getting a nod from the Box, so I think that the answer is yes.

Baroness Warsi | 716 c538 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I thank the Minister for her very detailed response. She has clearly provided the Committe...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c538 (Link to this contribution) 34: Clause 14, page 8, line 9, leave out subsection (6)

Baroness Warsi | 716 c538-40 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, this amendment is designed to probe further the nature of the dual discrimination provisio...

Baroness Howe of Idlicote | 716 c540-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 42 and 46 in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Ouseley....

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c542-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it causes me personal pain ever to disagree with the noble Baroness, Lady Howe of Idlicote...

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c543-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I welcome very much the Government’s initiative to provide for claims of combined discrimi...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c548 (Link to this contribution) I suggest that I organise a meeting with officials on this issue before Report for the noble Barones...

Baroness Howe of Idlicote | 716 c548 (Link to this contribution) Would this be an appropriate moment, first of all, to thank the noble Baroness the Leader of the Hou...

Bishop of Winchester | 716 c548 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the noble Lord and I can make that amendment together at a later stage.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c548 (Link to this contribution) That has certainly given us food for thought for a debate on a later set of amendments, and we will ...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c547-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to mention this now, but I do so so that one can think about it later. Going back to the ...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c545-7 (Link to this contribution) Amendments 34, 42 and 56 relate to Clause 14, which provides protection from what we call dual discr...

Bishop of Winchester | 716 c545 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord has said it very graciously. If I am speaking at the wrong time, I shall stop. What I...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c545 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt, but we will have a full debate on harassment when we come to a later group ...

Bishop of Winchester | 716 c544-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I want to take the opportunity that Amendment 56 provides of probing a line in this legisl...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c551-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response, specifically in relation to the assurances that mor...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c551 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, Clause 15 provides that an employer or service provider, such as the universities cited by...

Baroness Deech | 716 c550 (Link to this contribution) This clause is not confined to employment. I have some experience of this in handling student compla...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c550 (Link to this contribution) It is extremely useful that the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, has gone to such trouble to explain the ...

Baroness Meacher | 716 c550 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, people with mental health disorders are often very concerned that others do not know of th...

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c550 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in response to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, perhaps I may say that I was not pressing for ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c549 (Link to this contribution) 35: Clause 15, page 8, line 22, leave out subsection (2)

Baroness Warsi | 716 c549-50 (Link to this contribution) This amendment is designed to probe the balance of responsibility between an employer and an employe...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c552 (Link to this contribution) 37: Clause 17, page 8, line 41, leave out "Chapter 2 of"

Baroness O'Cathain | 716 c554 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the noble Baroness could give me some clarification. I am wondering how this measure will be...

Baroness Gould of Potternewton | 716 c553 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I, too, thank the Government for tabling this amendment after the concerns that were raise...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c552 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister. I strongly support Amendment 37. I am grateful to the ...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c552 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I speak to the amendment in the name of my noble friend Lady Royall. For brevity’s sake, I...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c554 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the noble Lord is correct.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c554 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I may ask a question, which will save me having to speak on Amendment 105. Is it not the cas...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c554 (Link to this contribution) The DCSF already produces guidelines to schools which give specific responsibilities that they have ...

Baroness O'Cathain | 716 c554-5 (Link to this contribution) I accept the Minister’s point, but I should like one further clarification. I listened intently to t...

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c555 (Link to this contribution) 42A: Clause 20, page 10, line 29, leave out "three" and insert "four"

Baroness Thornton | 716 c555 (Link to this contribution) I assume that legal action was not taken in that case. We are putting this beyond doubt. Amendment ...

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton | 716 c557-8 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I support the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Low, as does the noble Baroness, La...

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c555-7 (Link to this contribution) The substantive amendment in this group is Amendment 45A and the other 29 consequential—except Amend...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 716 c558 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I, too, have listened to the very moving speeches. I agree entirely with the noble Lord, L...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c558 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, no one who has listened to the two speeches that we have just heard could be other than ov...

Lord Elton | 716 c558 (Link to this contribution) I am equally moved by the two admirably succinct and lucid speeches that we have heard and the way i...

Baroness Howe of Idlicote | 716 c558 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I add my name to those who would support the amendment, including voting in favour of it i...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c585 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the noble Lord comes up with solutions that no one else has thought of. I know that he want...

Lord Elton | 716 c585 (Link to this contribution) I want to pursue what I was saying a little further. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, said that it was n...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c588 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, contrary to some, I am not like WC Fields; I do not hate kids. However, the amendment remi...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c586-7 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 57 is to probe the application of age as a protected characteristic. The purpose is to asc...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c586 (Link to this contribution) 57: Clause 28, page 15, line 6, leave out paragraph (a)

Lord Ouseley | 716 c585-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have heard the explanation from the Minister on both my amendments on third-party harass...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c585 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to hear the noble Lord, Lord Elton, using Latin because he may not know that since th...

Baroness Gould of Potternewton | 716 c578-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I rise to take part in this debate principally to deal with the last point that the noble ...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c576-8 (Link to this contribution) I will also speak to the various amendments in the group in my name—Amendments 56A and 56B, Amendmen...

Lord Elton | 716 c580 (Link to this contribution) It is indeed crucial, but there is a limit to how much we can legislate for the proper care of child...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c581-4 (Link to this contribution) This group of amendments seeks to extend and clarify the protections against harassment in the Bill....

Baroness Warsi | 716 c580-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, for his very interesting speech on Amendments 51 and 106. I wa...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c580 (Link to this contribution) The problem is that the Bill already singles out certain forms of harassment and bullying. We are tr...

Lord Elton | 716 c579-80 (Link to this contribution) In equating harassment with bullying, I align myself with the noble Baroness. I also wish to express...

Baroness Howe of Idlicote | 716 c580 (Link to this contribution) I was very taken with what the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, said. Indeed, I rather wondered why she h...

Lord Elton | 716 c580 (Link to this contribution) I accept that, but it is rather like filling the gaps in a sieve, as it is unlikely to have sufficie...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c565 (Link to this contribution) 45ZA: Clause 20, page 10, line 41, at end insert— "( ) A person (A) who is subject to a duty to make...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c565-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we welcome the Government's decision to make explicit on the face of the Bill their intent...

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c565 (Link to this contribution) I had my name on the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, so it seems appropriate ...

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton | 716 c565 (Link to this contribution) I would just like to say how thrilled I am at this amendment, for two reasons. First, I feel that it...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c565 (Link to this contribution) The purpose of this amendment is to make explicit that the costs of a reasonable adjustment should n...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c566 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in the first instance when we were drafting the Bill we did not consider that such a provi...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c566 (Link to this contribution) We on these Benches add to the consensus, and we are delighted that the Government have changed thei...

Lord Ouseley | 716 c575-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in moving the amendment, I shall speak also to Amendment 106, which is coupled with it. Th...

Lord Elton | 716 c560 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my noble friend reminds me of a practical point of some importance. I receive, as do all y...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c558-60 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we have heard a very persuasive case, made by the noble Lord, Lord Low, about the importan...

Bishop of Chichester | 716 c560-1 (Link to this contribution) It is a counsel of despair to say that some existing legislation is not working and, therefore, some...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c563 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, having listened to the noble Baroness so far—

Baroness Thornton | 716 c561-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people is unique to the provisions of...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c563-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for asking me to be patient because what she has just said is obviousl...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c563 (Link to this contribution) If the noble Lord lets me finish, he may be pleased with what I have to say. Before I complete my re...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c564 (Link to this contribution) I shall take this away and look at it with a view to returning to it.

Lord Low of Dalston | 716 c564-5 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to Minister. I was initially a little dismayed that the Minister placed so much w...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c599 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, as I said, it is not the best point I wanted to make but it does acknowledge the fact, as ...

Bishop of Chichester | 716 c600 (Link to this contribution) Before the noble and learned Lord stops, despite the hour, I should say that I am grateful that he i...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c598 (Link to this contribution) The situation is rather different. I do not know many mainline Christian organisations that have a c...

Lord Elton | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point. The word is "can", not "must" or "should". It should be either "must" or ...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c598 (Link to this contribution) First, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, for saying that the amendment would produc...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c598 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble and learned Lord allow me to ask a question? Would he for a moment substitute "ethnic...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) Has the Minister completed her submission?

Baroness Thornton | 716 c598 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that there is anything more that I can add to my remarks.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c600 (Link to this contribution) We are not privatising beliefs; we are dealing with conduct.

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c600 (Link to this contribution) We are seeking to privatise the practice that should arise from the belief. If you do not act accord...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c594 (Link to this contribution) That is not exactly what the amendment says.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c594 (Link to this contribution) No, it is not exactly what the amendment says but I am pointing out its implications. What it says i...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c593 (Link to this contribution) That is not what the amendment says.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c593 (Link to this contribution) Pardon?

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c593 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, nobody could reply to the noble and learned Lord properly after such a wide-ranging speech...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c591-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I believe that there is a real sense in which the extent to which a society or country dem...

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 716 c588-90 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lords for tabling this amendment, because it is helpful for the...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c590-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for her response, which was interesting in how the Government seek to engage wi...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) I think I expressly said that we recognise that flexibility is built in—that an employer and service...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c596-7 (Link to this contribution) However, continuing this particular point, if there is no other registrar available, the local autho...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) Is it not also the case that, quite properly, Parliament has required that if a particular doctor ha...

Lord Elton | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) Could one not apply the same practice to the case that the noble Baroness raised in her substantive ...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c594 (Link to this contribution) The question would be whether it was a conscientious objection, for example a genuinely held homopho...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c595-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it will not surprise the noble and learned Lord that I will speak against his proposed new...

Bishop of Winchester | 716 c596 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Baroness for breaking off. Surely in that case the precise the point was ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c594 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the noble Lord, Lord Lester, when he is in full flow, but I would be interes...

Baroness Thornton | 716 c554 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Baroness has raised a variety of questions which I hope that I will be able to c...

Bishop of Winchester | 716 c594-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I, too, when I read this amendment recently, was fascinated to see in which direction the ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c553 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, these two amendments will effectively extend the protection against pregnancy and maternit...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c584 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I will explain where I strongly disagree, not where I agree, so that I save time later and...

Lord Elton | 716 c585 (Link to this contribution) I was seeking the opportunity to get the opinion of the noble Lord, Lord Lester, on the pronunciatio...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c598-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I think I have an experience that the noble and learned Lord does not have. My elder child...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c525 (Link to this contribution) Can the noble Lord give an example? I am not aware of any case in which the words "because of" have ...

Lord Morris of Handsworth | 716 c587-8 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the substantive argument supporting the amendment has been ably put by the noble Baroness,...

Lord Ouseley | 716 c575 (Link to this contribution) 51: Clause 26, page 13, line 42, leave out "gender reassignment or sex" and insert "a relevant prote...

Baroness Coussins | 716 c532 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, as the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, referred a couple of times to an amendment in my name, ...

Baroness Warsi | 716 c548-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank noble Lords, particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, for taking part in this debate. The...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 716 c597 (Link to this contribution) This is not a very satisfactory way of proceeding because we are dealing with the issue in bits and ...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 716 c591 (Link to this contribution) 57A: After Clause 31, insert the following new Clause— "Conscientious objection Nothing in this Act ...

EC documents

DIR2000/78/EC

Subjects

Disability

Age

Conscientious objectors

Employment

Equality

Homosexuality

EU law

Information

Harassment

Discrimination

Holidays

Older people

Pupils

Package holidays

Visual impairment

Schools

Religion

Tax allowances

Sexuality

Taxation

Religious buildings

Teenage pregnancy

Atheism

Philosophy

Church of Scientology

Humanism

Transgender people

Reasonable adjustments

Legislation

Equality Bill 2008-09 to 2009-10

Link

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