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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

My Lords, we are sorting out the policy now. Let us look at where we are. The Government have put forward a number of propositions with which this House has comprehensively disagreed. There are two ways in which we can deal with that. We could say, ““Very well. This House has spoken. We will do no more. The matter will go back to the Commons. The Commons—which, after all, has a mandate as the elected House and the voice of the people—will decide””. This is an issue of such sensitivity that there is a desire to accommodate and seek to compromise, to find a middle way. I had understood that those in this House, discharging their duty with such propriety and care as always, would, if possible, prefer to find a way through this rather difficult situation. There may be others who would rather enter into the usual fray.