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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

If the Government are going to agree with the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, then I suggest that we do not press the amendment. If they say, ““Yes, it is flawed””—which most people are saying it is—““We will take it away and introduce a lot of amendments more or less along these lines on Report””, then I think we should give the Government the chance to do that. If, however—I have a terrible feeling that this will be the alternative—they are going to dig their heels in like the shield wall at Thermopylae and say, ““They shall not pass”” (mixed metaphors and battles), then I think that we should press the amendment because, as my noble and learned friend Lord Lyell said, unless it is in the Bill, it cannot be made better on Report.