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Equality Bill

My Lords, in speaking on this delicate matter, I should make it clear that I have no clue as to what my party said at the Speaker's Conference, so what I am about to say may be politically incorrect, in which case I shall probably be corrected by my noble friend Lady Northover, who knows much more about these things than I do. I agree with what has been said by the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, and the Minister. This is a very sensitive issue, because we are concerned with personal privacy. When I did my own Private Member’s Bill, I treated sexuality and religion differently from the other strands, because anything that involves monitoring and asking people about their sexuality, religion or lack of it may invade personal privacy. For that reason, we try to deal with it in a different way. I am all in favour of positive action, especially to ensure that both halves of the human race are properly reflected in our elected parliamentary and other bodies. As a short or medium-term measure, I support positive action to achieve that, including, for example, women only shortlists. One reservation that I have about treating this subject across the board is not only personal privacy but also that we do not want our elected Parliament to become like the United Nations. In other words, we do not want to start having quotas in which each interest group, whether ethnic or religious or not religious, gay or straight, or old or young are able to clamour for equal representation—quite apart from what Edmund Burke would have said about that to the electors of Bristol about the duties of a Member of Parliament to all her or his constituents. It is undesirable and divisive to divide people up into herds or groups and then start saying that this is about group rights, and so on. I am not saying in any way that I am opposed to these amendments. I am simply saying that the matter is very sensitive and I would hope that the kind of remarks that the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, has made and I have made reflect also the views of the Government in their approach to these amendments.