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Disability Discrimination (Private Clubs etc.) Regulations 2005

My Lords, as we are all busy giving way to each other at a rate of knots, I will just say that I basically welcome these regulations. I remember that when we did the pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill a representative of the London clubs came to see us. The whole committee was thrown into shocked surprise when he basically said ““Yes, we can do this. There isn’t a problem. We will be able to come into line with what else is going on here””. There was a sense of anticlimax, a few of us having expected a stonewalling rearguard action. The regulations basically say that private clubs, which have quite an important place in our society, must ensure that they are consistent with provision for the disabled population in other parts of their lives. The regulations are totally in keeping with the most recent legislation, which filled in all the gaps around the initial legislation. It may not have gone far enough. Perhaps we will need a single equality Act. But as far as the regulations go, in the current framework, I can find no real objection to them.