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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. I am very grateful to the right reverend Prelate for explaining the whole matter a lot better than I believe I did. I am also very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lester. He referred to the Equal Opportunities Commission and said that it did not have much money. However, we should not forget that the commission which is being set up will have a lot of money. I am also extremely grateful to my noble friend who supported me so ably. Noble Lords who intervened in the debate will realise that I am most grateful to the Minister. I am particularly grateful to her for offering to discuss the matter further. I have no doubt that that will help. The Minister made three points. First, she referred to the commission’s role of promoting good practice. That is fine in general terms but we are talking about the exceptional case where something goes wrong. The implications of that for the commission are not that bad; it might not even suffer reputational damage. However, the implications for a small organisation could be catastrophic. We must pursue that matter further. Secondly, the Minister referred to faith bodies taking out insurance. I am sure that not a single Member of your Lordships’ House does not realise how expensive insurance is now. I do not believe that small organisations such as those mentioned by the right reverend Prelate could afford that. That brings me neatly to the third point; namely, that you would have to apply to a court. A small organisation would have to obtain legal advice and, because of its memorandums and articles of association or whatever, would probably have to consult a lawyer down the road whom it knew and thought might be able to help. However, that is not a fair situation; it is rather a David and Goliath situation. Therefore, I am still concerned but my concerns have been allayed, certainly for the time being, by the generous response on the part of the Minister. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 36 [Unlawful]: