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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Government are worrying about something very substantial indeed: the evidence we have that people try to stir up hatred against others because of their religious belief. That is the heart of our concern, which we seek to address through the measure. If hon. Members start to differentiate between race and religion in legislation, the anomaly that we are seeking to remedy between Jews and Sikhs and other religious groups would be repeated in the Bill. That would not be welcome. I can reassure the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) that we intend to limit the exemptions specifically to the new offence, not to any others.