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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I agree with the analysis of the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, and the noble Lord, Lord Lester; namely, if I have a right not to be discriminated against, my employer or the person providing me with services has a responsibility not to discriminate against me. I also agree completely with the analysis of the subsection by the noble Lord that in relation to those rights, there are responsibilities and people must not infringe people’s rights. I perfectly well understand what the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, is saying. With the greatest and most profound respect for the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, I do not believe that there is much confusion about this. There is the right and responsibility of the kind mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, but there is also the position that when one is given a right, one has to recognise that one has some responsibilities as well. I thought that the example given by the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, was absolutely perfect. If I have a right to walk over her land, I have a responsibility to use that right in a sensible and thoughtful way. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, appears to be aiming at that in his amendment. However, for all the reasons given, it does not get there. The principle he describes is right. I—and I would say this, wouldn’t I?—completely support the extracts of the speeches from our Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which precisely express it and, with the greatest respect, express it without confusion. The amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, does not hit the target or get anywhere near it. Furthermore, I do not believe that an amendment is the way to deal with the issue because one is inserting responsibilities into a Bill which create rights and the correlative responsibilities, but do not deal at all with what the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, rightly described as the moral responsibility that goes with them. I believe that we should try to keep moral responsibility outside legislation.