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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

I am delighted that the right hon. Gentleman has enabled me to return to this point, which he raised earlier. He must have regard to the terms of the Bill that he supports. The terms of the 1986 Act and of the Bill are not exactly the same—the latter substantially amend the former. The 1986 Act uses the phrase,"““having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.””" Once amended, the Act would use the phrase,"““having regard to all the circumstances the words, behaviour or material are (or is) likely to be heard or seen by any person in whom they are (or it is) likely to stir up racial or religious hatred.””" That is a very different test. I should also point out that it is right that we apply different tests to racial and religious hatred, because the distinction is an important one.