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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

The Committee has agreed to Amendments Nos. 1 and 2, which are paving amendments for Amendment No. 31. Amendment No. 31 will remove the schedule to the Bill and replace it with a new schedule dealing with religious hatred only. The Government will, therefore, not today oppose Amendment No. 31. Amendments Nos. 4 to 30 are to the existing schedule, and the final decision on the schedule will not be made until Amendment No. 31 is reached. Strictly speaking, Amendments Nos. 4 to 30 and Amendment No. 3, which is to Clause 1 are not pre-empted and must be called by the Chairman. Any of those amendments may be debated. It is of course a matter for Members of the Committee who have tabled them to decide whether they wish to move them in the light of the decision that the Committee has just made.