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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

It is very flattering to have so many people wanting to get in. I shall not give way now but, as I did earlier, I give a commitment to allow several people to intervene before I sit down. I have noted the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris), and he will be glad to know that I intend to refer to him in my speech. I am sure that he will be thrilled to hear that I am due to say:"““As I made clear in response to a question from the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon . . . ””" I shall try and deal with that properly when the time comes, but for now I intend to make a little progress. The Bill seeks to address the anomaly that means that Jews and Sikhs are protected under the existing law, but that other faith groups, and people of no faith, are not protected. I think that that is simply not right and that the problem needs to be addressed. The Bill seeks to fill a gap in the law that means that people can stir up hatred against others because of their religious beliefs. Such people may be extremists using religion as a proxy for race or nationality, but they may also be people of faith stirring up hatred of people who do not share their beliefs. That behaviour is not caught by the current set of religiously aggravated offences or by existing incitement offences. It is not only right but essential that the law should provide protection in that area. As I have said before, legislation is not a panacea. It will not solve all the problems in our communities. We have to do a great deal of work to address those problems, using measures other than the law, but all those other things that we might do do not remove the need for this Bill.