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Sex Discrimination (Religious Organisations)

It is a pleasure to rise, somewhat earlier than I had anticipated, to participate in the debate, which was expertly introduced by the hon. Member for Salisbury (Robert Key). It is a pleasure to hear him speak with so much authority on these matters—as he does on matters of science, as I know from my experience—even as a lay person, to use the term in its non-scientific sense. It is a bit curious that I have been selected by my party to speak in the debate, because the fact that I am not religious is, I think, well known—perhaps better known than the fact that I am not a woman. However, on reflection, it is not so curious, because the Liberal Democrats take a slightly different view from the other parties, owing to our views on establishment. Not surprisingly, our party does not have a corporate view on whether there should be women bishops in the Church of England. Anything that I say on that matter is, therefore, a personal view. However, we have a view on whether it should be a matter for us in Parliament, as I accept it is at present. We believe in disestablishment, because we think that establishment is wrong in principle. There should be appropriate separation between the state and any religion. Also, because all religions choose to discriminate in certain ways—or certainly the Church of England does, as it is legally entitled to—establishment seems somehow to associate the state with that discrimination. For those of us who want as little discrimination as possible that cannot be justified on objective grounds in public authorities—the state—it is difficult to see the Church of England as part of the state and to see it discriminate.