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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

At the heart of the hon. Gentleman’s argument is the assertion that a person’s religious belief is, in many respects, very similar to that person’s political belief or—this example was given earlier—his or her support for a football club. Does he accept that many people’s religious beliefs are much more fundamental than their political beliefs, or even their support for football clubs? Are not those beliefs fundamentally connected to their family, culture and heritage? Indeed, in many cases their religious beliefs are even more fundamental to their sense of identity than their race.