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Equality Bill [HL]

I agree with the points made by the noble Lords, Lord Dholakia and Lord Lester of   Herne Hill. I appreciate what the noble Lord, Lord   Ouseley, said and understand the principles that underlie his contribution, but I feel that we could move into a difficult situation if we started allocating a certain number of members of the commission to certain categories. Other categories appear in later amendments. If we are not careful, we will have more categories than we have commissioners. I support the guidance in Schedule 1, which sets out clearly the interests that the commission must cover, but I agree in particular with the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, who said that we were thinking not about a particular category but about the experience and understanding that commissioners could bring. That is important, and that is what we should look for in setting up the commission.