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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

First, I confess that I have not read our manifesto. Indeed, I am not sure that I read many of them, even when I finished up in government. Like my noble friend Lord Clinton-Davis, I have had some experience and hate racial and religious hatred terribly—like, I am sure, everyone on the Committee—but I have great worries about the Bill. I understand that we do not usually vote on Second Readings, but I hope that we will give the Government time to think again. I would be prepared to do that if my noble friend, for whom I have great regard, tells us that the Government are genuinely proposing to think again. If I do not get that assurance, I would certainly be prepared to vote for these sensible amendments, and I hope that they would be carried. The Government could still then think again. That is an important consideration and it is why, unless I get that offer of serious consideration from my noble friend—to whom I offer my sympathies for what happened recently—I am sorry to say, I will have to vote against the Government.