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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, it is with some trepidation that a simple old village schoolmaster rises in the midst of such noble and learned Lords as we have heard today. I have one point that I want to put directly to the Secretary of State. As I support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, I wonder how the Government can put the argument that guidance by the Secretary of State will be more learned, more perceptive and more reflective of what the public require than decisions made in this House. To substitute guidance for firm law strikes me as peculiar. I hope the Secretary of State will see fit to tell us the extent to which his department will be able to interfere daily with the interpretation that the police put on the law as he would wish to see it. In pursuance of his guidance, will his department be able to interfere with police operations? If we know the safeguards for free speech that we want to achieve, as the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, has illustrated in his amendment, then there should be no requirement to leave the matter in limbo at the discretion of this Secretary of State or succeeding Secretaries of State. The amendment has clarity and contains nothing that in any way supports those who are homophobic. I would not add my vote to that of the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, and others if I thought it would. However, there is a need to protect those who have principles that they want to express, regardless of whether those principles concern capitalism, homosexual activity or whatever. We have the right of freedom of speech and it should not be left at the will and pleasure of this Secretary of State, his department or any succeeding Secretaries of State.