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Equality Bill [HL]

Will the Minister accept that there are anxieties the other way? There are the anxieties of a cautious, prudential kind about extension to matters of private life. Exceptions would have to be fashioned to deal with those objections, so that the law did not go too far. I take it that it is common ground that, subject to the difficult business of fashioning proper exceptions to balance equality against other values, such as personal privacy and religious freedom—I accept those—the review is predicated on the assumption that age discrimination in the provisions of goods, services and facilities; sexual orientation discrimination in that area; marital status discrimination; and transsexual or transgender discrimination will be covered, subject to appropriate exceptions and limitations. If that is not the position, we will have to come back to the matter rather more strongly at a later stage, without prejudice to all the necessary care and consultation on the exceptions. Is that, roughly, the Government’s position?