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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

My Lords, I perfectly understand the reasons why the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, has introduced this amendment. I do not think that there is the slightest doubt that no offence would be committed under the Bill as amended in Committee in this House or, indeed, under the Bill in its original form. As the House will hear shortly from the Minister, for reasons that she and others may explain, before this Bill finally becomes law it will be in a form which I am confident would make this amendment in any event otiose—as lawyers like to say—or unnecessary. The amendment also gives rise to some problems, which we do not need to debate now, about what is meant by ““the main world religions”” and what happens to those that are the world’s minor religions or other religions. There are problems about discrimination between religions, the definitions of religions and so on. While we all understand the aim of the amendment, I think that I can reassure the House—as one of the architects of what we did in Committee—that it is not necessary for the avoidance of any doubt. If there were any, I am sure that it would be taken care of in other ways before the Bill received Royal Assent.