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Debate on bill on Tuesday, 21 June 2005, in the House of Commons, led by Charles Clarke. The answering member was David Davis.

Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Second reading debate. Amendment negatived on division (246 to 303). Main question agreed to on division (303 to 247). Programme motion for proceedings in committee, report and third reading agreed to on division (305 to 235).

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
435 c668-771 
Session
2005-06
Department
Home Office
Legislative stage
Second reading
Procedure
Programme motions
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Jamie Reed | 435 c713-6 (Link to this contribution) I crave the indulgence of the House in interrupting such an important and enjoyable debate to delive...
Shahid Malik | 435 c702-4 (Link to this contribution) I begin by saying how proud I am to be making my maiden speech as the Member of Parliament for Dewsb...
Show all contributions (279)
Lord Deben | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) May I take the Home Secretary back to the point about who defines what a religion is? When Lafayette...
Diane Abbott | 435 c680-1 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that many people who are horrified by the rise in anti-Muslim abuse...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) Can the Home Secretary clear up a fundamental point and give the House an unambiguous assurance that...
Charles Clarke | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) I can give that assurance absolutely.
Charles Clarke | 435 c679-80 (Link to this contribution) I have said that I will give way later. I will—I am ready to deal with points on these issues—but I ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c680 (Link to this contribution) I said that I would give way again before I conclude, and I will do so two or three times.
Evan Harris | 435 c680 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we will have a chance later in the debate to return to blasphemy. Does the Home Secretar...
Charles Clarke | 435 c678-9 (Link to this contribution) I will in a moment, as I said. The Bill consists of just two clauses and a schedule. Clause 1 will ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c678 (Link to this contribution) It is very flattering to have so many people wanting to get in. I shall not give way now but, as I d...
Gary Streeter | 435 c678 (Link to this contribution) Will the Home Secretary give way?
Iain Duncan Smith | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Home Secretary for giving way yet again on this very important matter. Does he ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c676 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way one more time, but then I want to make some progress.
Dominic Grieve | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) : What is the distinction between a political view and a religious view? Intense dislike of the Brit...
Charles Clarke | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) I think that the answer is self-evident, and I am sorry that it does not appear so to the hon. Gentl...
Charles Clarke | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) I said that I would make progress, but I shall give way twice more.
Andy Reed | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right to say that many people have grave concerns about the Bill. I am a Chr...
Charles Clarke | 435 c677 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give the commitment that my hon. Friend seeks. In Committee, we will look at any propo...
Charles Clarke | 435 c676 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe that religion and politics slide together in the way that my hon. and learned Frien...
Andrew Selous | 435 c670 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary will be aware that legislation similar to this has been passed in Australia. Will...
Charles Clarke | 435 c670 (Link to this contribution) I can absolutely give my hon. Friend the assurance that he seeks. A different response might come fr...
Charles Clarke | 435 c669 (Link to this contribution) May I give a little fatherly advice to the hon. Gentleman as he begins his parliamentary career? He ...
Philip Davies | 435 c669 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary said that the Bill would have prevented the Bradford riots in 2001. That was reit...
Huw Irranca-Davies | 435 c669-70 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that anyone in the House could disagree with the laudable aims of the Bill, but will ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c668-9 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The offence had been agreed by the House tw...
Charles Clarke | 435 c669 (Link to this contribution) First, I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that clear statement about her approach and the change of...
Lynne Jones | 435 c669 (Link to this contribution) In the past, I have voted against such a provision. Since the Government have granted an amendment t...
Speaker | 435 c668 (Link to this contribution) I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition an...
Ann Widdecombe | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) What will be the crucial test of an offence? Will it be that the words uttered were intended to stir...
Charles Clarke | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) Intent is the answer to that—it is the conduct of people intending to incite racial hatred.
Charles Clarke | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) As I said, I am going to make some more progress and then I will give way.
David Davis | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) Will the Home Secretary give way?
Charles Clarke | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) No. I am going to make some progress and then give way, as I said. The European convention on human...
Charles Clarke | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) I am going to give way in a few moments. I know a lot of hon. Members want to intervene. I will make...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) Will the Home secretary give way?
Charles Clarke | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) A number of hon. Members want to intervene. I am going to give way to the right hon. Member for Maid...
Charles Clarke | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) The Attorney-General, in whatever Government, is an important protection. Secondly, and more serious...
Graham Allen | 435 c670-1 (Link to this contribution) The law that we pass in the House will not be in a steady state. It will be subject to review and to...
Charles Clarke | 435 c671 (Link to this contribution) I shall again refer to something that I was going to say later in my speech, in order to address my ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c670 (Link to this contribution) I will take interventions on the particular point about the comparison with the Australian law.
David Winnick | 435 c671-2 (Link to this contribution) Obviously there are legitimate concerns. I would not support any measure to prevent criticism of rel...
Charles Clarke | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I draw strength from that. We have drafted this Bill tightly...
Lord Bannside | 435 c671 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary is well aware that certain statements in the Bible and in the confessions of fait...
Charles Clarke | 435 c671 (Link to this contribution) No, they would not. Although I did not know that the hon. Gentleman was going to raise that point, I...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c672 (Link to this contribution) I do not follow the Home Secretary’s argument that it is possible to dissociate criticism or intense...
Charles Clarke | 435 c670 (Link to this contribution) Yes, you can. I shall come to that part of my speech in a second, but I want to deal with the questi...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 435 c676 (Link to this contribution) Will the Home Secretary deal with one serious difficulty? He will appreciate that many of us who are...
Speaker | 435 c676 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members that interventions should be brief.
Tony Wright | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) At the heart of these arguments is the question whether we can distinguish the beliefs from the beli...
Andrew Mackinlay | 435 c675-6 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend outlined the various stages and tests that a prosecution would have to go throu...
Charles Clarke | 435 c676 (Link to this contribution) There are two answers. First, the Bill will, if agreed by the House, be enacted into law and it will...
Adam Afriyie | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Home Secretary for giving way. I commend the Government’s motives—if they are genuine—in...
Charles Clarke | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) I cite the legislation on race hatred, which has existed for some time. Such legislation has changed...
Lembit Opik | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) I have heard many of these arguments before in the context of Northern Ireland legislation, and the ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c674-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend’s first comment and can indeed give her the assurance that she seeks, bu...
Charles Clarke | 435 c674 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right and her description of the issues to which that play gave rise, particularly...
Celia Barlow | 435 c674 (Link to this contribution) While I appreciate what my right hon. Friend says about the Bill’s scope on sexuality, can he assure...
Phyllis Starkey | 435 c674 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned the play ““Behzti””, which is often used as an example by opponents o...
Charles Clarke | 435 c673-4 (Link to this contribution) The Public Order Act 1986 makes the position clear. Section 18(5) provides that the prosecution must...
Gerald Kaufman | 435 c674 (Link to this contribution) The problem with interventions by Conservative Members is they are totally unrepresentative of the p...
Charles Clarke | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) I will in a second. I understand that the worries of hon. Members on both sides of the House and of...
Charles Clarke | 435 c683 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has answered his own question in part because the guidance will be an important e...
Charles Clarke | 435 c682 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate my hon. Friend’s invitation, but I will not go into any detail beyond what I have alrea...
David Heath | 435 c682-3 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary is being very generous in giving way. The problem that many of us see with the Bi...
Charles Clarke | 435 c682 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely not, so I can give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he is looking for. I know that h...
Chris Bryant | 435 c682 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary said earlier that today is not the day for dealing with the question of reforming...
Charles Clarke | 435 c682 (Link to this contribution) As I have already said, I am prepared to consider amendments and other proposals to do just that, bu...
Boris Johnson | 435 c682 (Link to this contribution) We are all trying to grapple with what the Bill will ban and why. Will the Home Secretary clear up s...
Charles Clarke | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman wants to be helpful but I shall not get involved in judging ind...
Mark Pritchard | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) I should like to be helpful to the Government, so can the Home Secretary give the House an example o...
Charles Clarke | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman and I have never discussed scientology, but on the basis of what he has jus...
David Davis | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not, if the right hon. Gentleman will forgive me.
Gerald Kaufman | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) : Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
David Davis | 435 c691-2 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton has not been present for half of my speech. I shall not...
David Davis | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman misses the point. If one is discussing a perfectly reasonable point of deba...
John Denham | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) The point is not about race, to which we shall doubtless revert in the debate. The right hon. Gentle...
David Davis | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I shall not do so because I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman’s perspective. One...
Chris Bryant | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) : The right hon. Gentleman hangs his argument on the basis that there is a substantial difference be...
Speaker | 435 c692 (Link to this contribution) May I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a limit of 10 minutes on B...
David Davis | 435 c691 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the right hon. Gentleman did not listen to the first half of my speech. The poin...
David Davis | 435 c690 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. My hon. Friend strikes at a very serious weakness at the heart of the Bill, and I shal...
Angela Watkinson | 435 c690 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend believe that a likelihood—““likely”” is the word used in the Bill—on the p...
David Davis | 435 c689 (Link to this contribution) I do not know the individual cases to which my hon. Friend refers, and it would not be right for me ...
John Bercow | 435 c689 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of specifics, my right hon. Friend will be aware that virulently homophobic lyrics in...
David Davis | 435 c689 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure about the rules governing such an exchange between myself and the Home Secretary, but ...
Edward Leigh | 435 c689 (Link to this contribution) Has my right hon. Friend noticed that whenever we adduce a specific example of what might be called ...
David Davis | 435 c688-9 (Link to this contribution) It is entirely unsurprising that Justice supports that proposition. When other countries have introd...
John Denham | 435 c690 (Link to this contribution) Given that the words that the right hon. Gentleman just quoted are, to all intents and purposes, the...
David Davis | 435 c690 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee.
David Davis | 435 c686 (Link to this contribution) I do accept that and, unlike the Home Secretary, I shall illustrate the point with an individual cas...
David Davis | 435 c686-7 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend, as always, predicts my argument. He is entirely right, as a notable feature of...
Lord Deben | 435 c686 (Link to this contribution) : My right hon. Friend talked about the balance between freedom and the need to protect people again...
David Davis | 435 c687 (Link to this contribution) Of course, if the debate is about tolerance it is about intolerance as well. I am arguing that we ar...
Mark Hendrick | 435 c687 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman argues that the debate is about tolerance. Is it not in fact about intolera...
David Davis | 435 c687-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. I shall come back to that individual case in a moment. The second prob...
David Heath | 435 c687 (Link to this contribution) : I, too, am glad that the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) is back in ...
David Davis | 435 c688 (Link to this contribution) The overlap between that legislation and this Bill is enormous. Amir Butler found that after Muslim...
Charles Clarke | 435 c688 (Link to this contribution) The difference is substantial. Section 8 of the Victoria Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 mak...
Gary Streeter | 435 c688 (Link to this contribution) : Is my right hon. Friend aware that Justice, an independent, all-party human rights and law reform ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c683 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that I have anything to add to my earlier reply to a similar question, except to say,...
John Baron | 435 c683 (Link to this contribution) May I press the Home Secretary on the question of intent, which is a reason why many of us have seve...
Charles Clarke | 435 c684 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the risk to which my hon. Friend refers is there. We are adding to the existing ...
John P Smith | 435 c683-4 (Link to this contribution) We all share the intents and the motives that lie behind the Bill. Will my right hon. Friend give me...
Charles Clarke | 435 c683 (Link to this contribution) Incitement to hatred takes place in relation to certain racial and religious groups and individuals....
Gary Streeter | 435 c683 (Link to this contribution) Of course we all want to build a tolerant society in which there is respect for each other’s religio...
Harry Cohen | 435 c686 (Link to this contribution) In that context, does the right hon. Gentleman accept that Islamophobia exists? If he does, what sho...
David Davis | 435 c684-6 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, To leave out from ““That”” to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:"““...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c684 (Link to this contribution) Not only is intent not required for this offence, but the Home Secretary is widening the scope of th...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c697 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes the point elegantly. I have spent some time on this issue already and I do ...
Lord Deben | 435 c697-8 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman leaves this subject, does he not agree that the example of the sword verse...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c698 (Link to this contribution) I am with the right hon. Gentleman on this point completely. This is another reason why the Governme...
John Pugh | 435 c698 (Link to this contribution) Surely such uncertainty is not just a matter for the courts. Most people want to stay out of court, ...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c698 (Link to this contribution) Indeed it is, and I shall return to that point. My hon. Friend is right: this is another example of ...
Frank Dobson | 435 c698 (Link to this contribution) I may have missed something, but in saying that such decisions should not be left to the Attorney-Ge...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c697 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that the right hon. Gentleman has enabled me to return to this point, which he raised...
John Denham | 435 c697 (Link to this contribution) : As I said earlier, the wording of the provision on incitement, concerning the effect that particul...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c693 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Frank Dobson | 435 c693 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. The Bill would not stop ““The Satanic Verses””. It would not be useful against Gary...
Frank Dobson | 435 c693 (Link to this contribution) Not at the moment. Most of the objections to the Bill seem to be based on the belief that it will b...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c695 (Link to this contribution) May I start, some may say uncharacteristically, by trying to accentuate a few of the positives about...
Evan Harris | 435 c695-6 (Link to this contribution) : I think Dr. Siddiqui supports what has been called the Lester amendment. I invite my hon. Friend t...
David TC Davies | 435 c693 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Frank Dobson | 435 c693-5 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. What the Government did is what should happen in a democracy. If people are being o...
David TC Davies | 435 c693 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Frank Dobson | 435 c692-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall start by making a declaration that I am a person of no religious belief, and that I have in ...
Fiona Mactaggart | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) The police were aware of the legislation. The case was not covered by it because it was claimed that...
Boris Johnson | 435 c732-4 (Link to this contribution) It is obvious that the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Mr. Galloway) already had plenty of pr...
Edward Leigh | 435 c727-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. The Under-Secretary will have the opportunity to wind up the debate. We want clear ex...
Evan Harris | 435 c728 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that I have found the reference in the evidence to the Ho...
Edward Leigh | 435 c728-9 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my friend for his intervention, and I hope that it will attract a comment from...
Edward Leigh | 435 c729 (Link to this contribution) Indeed he was. Can we take that risk? We should reject this Bill and vote it down at 10 o’clock toni...
Tony Wright | 435 c729-31 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh) may live to regret his earlier remark about trivial pla...
Boris Johnson | 435 c731-2 (Link to this contribution) I oppose the Bill because I think it could amount to an almost mediaeval repression of free speech. ...
Greg Hands | 435 c732 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may wish to consider a specific case. During the recent election campaign, a parliame...
Sadiq Khan | 435 c734-5 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for asking me to follow that. I am grateful for the opportunity to sp...
Speaker | 435 c734 (Link to this contribution) Order. I call Mr. Sadiq Khan.
Evan Harris | 435 c735 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Sadiq Khan | 435 c735-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I am sorry. The idea that one cannot choose one’s race but can choose one’s religion so that th...
Sadiq Khan | 435 c735 (Link to this contribution) It is not about race, as many of these women are white converts. One third of British Muslims are no...
Evan Harris | 435 c737-40 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) made at least two very important points in his powerf...
Harry Cohen | 435 c740-1 (Link to this contribution) I am a bit surprised by the uniform opposition to the Bill from the Conservative Benches, because du...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c736 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman used some illustrations of horrible behaviour to Muslims, and I think that he wou...
Sadiq Khan | 435 c736-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall deal with the last point later. On his first point, the examples that I provided are not cov...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) No; my point was that a significant proportion of my constituents and others identify themselves pri...
Mark Hendrick | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend makes a strong point, because race and religion are essential in terms of how peopl...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) The fact is that the law preventing the promotion of hatred on the grounds of race deserves to be ex...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c724 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, because I realise that my hon. Friend may feel that I have misrepresented him slightly.
Graham Allen | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) What I actually said was that I was pleased about the extension to cover Jewish and Sikh people but ...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) I entirely accept that that was my hon. Friend’s point and that he was welcoming the extension; my a...
Evan Harris | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that case law in cases regarding Sikhs and Jews recognises that the ex...
Gary Streeter | 435 c723 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way because I have used my two interventions. Fourthly, another unintended conseque...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c724 (Link to this contribution) My constituency is one of the most ethnically diverse of any represented in this House outside Londo...
Boris Johnson | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) The Public Order Act 1986 was amended in 1998 so that a person commits an offence"““if he displays a...
Edward Leigh | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) It would have been helpful if the Home Secretary, instead of taking refuge in saying that he was not...
Edward Leigh | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) Other hon. Members say that they would. We could have a legal argument about the matter. The vital, ...
Fiona Mactaggart | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should know about the extensive evidence that the Association of Chief Police Off...
Mark Hendrick | 435 c726-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Ms Thornberry) was not making the point...
David TC Davies | 435 c725 (Link to this contribution) : Does the hon. Gentleman concede that many Jewish people have felt targeted since 9/11 and that, un...
Peter Soulsby | 435 c725-6 (Link to this contribution) That was precisely my point about the way in which the law has been extended, is capable of being ex...
Lord Garnier | 435 c700 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman’s point not even more important given that this is the third time the legislat...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c700 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make that assumption, too, but I wonder if the hon. and learned Gentleman and I are ...
Gary Streeter | 435 c699 (Link to this contribution) : Can the hon. Gentleman picture himself in the shoes of the Attorney-General? Let us say that in th...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c699 (Link to this contribution) If an offer has been made. We already have the precedent in Scotland of the Solicitor-General being ...
Evan Harris | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) : And we could not call them bigots.
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend says, under the Bill, we would not be able to call them bigots. If the Government’...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c700-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) refers from a sedentary position to Lord Mackay of Clashf...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c698-9 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman was absolutely right in the first place: he must have missed the point, bec...
John Pugh | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to be unhelpful to my hon. Friend, but we should lay aside the issue of whether a reli...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c701-2 (Link to this contribution) I fear that we may be joining the angels on the head of a pin. No, I disagree with my hon. Friend an...
Lord Deben | 435 c705 (Link to this contribution) Sometimes, the person who follows a maiden speech has to search hard to find something to be polite ...
Ann Widdecombe | 435 c705 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the problems with the definition is shown by the fact th...
Lord Deben | 435 c705-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my right hon. Friend, and the question that she asked, which the Home Secretary failed ...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c706 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that, in my constituency, street preachers have been told that they may preach, but th...
Lord Deben | 435 c706-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Of course, one of the problems is that we are dealing with an atmosphere in...
Speaker | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Gentleman replies, I must tell the hon. Lady that if she is referring to anot...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) I nevertheless take the hon. Lady’s point, Sir Alan. In fact, the inconsistency lies at the heart of...
Celia Barlow | 435 c701 (Link to this contribution) I am rather confused by your argument. Are you advocating that the law should be extended so that ce...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c711 (Link to this contribution) The trouble is that those people are correct. If one looks at the ordinary meaning of the Bill and r...
Ann Widdecombe | 435 c711-3 (Link to this contribution) I add my congratulations to those of other Members to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Malik). His ...
John Denham | 435 c711 (Link to this contribution) Precisely the same objections were made about the Public Order Act 1986, but they have not proved to...
Lord Bannside | 435 c717 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I will do so in a minute or two. I have only 10 minutes, and it is a sad day when I can prea...
Chris Bryant | 435 c717 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bannside | 435 c717 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr. Reed) on his maiden speech. I knew his predecessor ...
Graham Allen | 435 c718-20 (Link to this contribution) I celebrate the fact that Britain is one of the most secular societies in the world. After years of ...
Lord Bannside | 435 c717-8 (Link to this contribution) I have faith in Jesus Christ, the saviour of sinners, and I recommend it to the sinner who is trying...
Gary Streeter | 435 c721 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) has said. I did not agre...
Emily Thornberry | 435 c721 (Link to this contribution) : I shall give the hon. Gentleman an example. A young lady on her way to the Elizabeth Garrett Ander...
Gary Streeter | 435 c721 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Lady will put me right.
John Hemming | 435 c722 (Link to this contribution) My constituency is in Birmingham, which is a city with a large number of faiths. In Birmingham, we h...
Gary Streeter | 435 c721-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Lady that such behaviour is utterly unacceptable. The people responsible sho...
Gary Streeter | 435 c722-3 (Link to this contribution) Legislation is sometimes important, because it can send a signal and drive a stake in the ground, an...
Lord Deben | 435 c707-8 (Link to this contribution) I really cannot give way. So I come to that verse from the Koran. If we read that verse or many oth...
Nick Palmer | 435 c707 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
John Denham | 435 c709 (Link to this contribution) There is of course incitement legislation already. If one were to publish a leaflet saying, ““We don...
Boris Johnson | 435 c709 (Link to this contribution) Can the right hon. Gentleman do better than Ministers on the Treasury Bench and give us a concrete e...
John Denham | 435 c708-9 (Link to this contribution) I was pleased to be in the Chamber to hear the excellent maiden speech of my hon. Friend the Member ...
Speaker | 435 c708 (Link to this contribution) Order. The right hon. Gentleman has had his time.
John Denham | 435 c709 (Link to this contribution) I shall not give way as the time for debate is limited.
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 435 c709 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful. I should like my right hon. Friend to address an issue that causes me great conc...
John Denham | 435 c710-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that time is limited, even if one takes interventions. Many hon. Members wi...
Evan Harris | 435 c710 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
John Denham | 435 c709-10 (Link to this contribution) There is a perfectly legitimate argument, which has been raised by some groups in the debate on the ...
John Denham | 435 c710 (Link to this contribution) It is not possible to make the separation that hon. Members have tried to make.
John Denham | 435 c710 (Link to this contribution) No, I need to make progress and many Members want to speak. I want to deal briefly with some of the...
Speaker | 435 c759 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is in order. If things were otherwise, I would tell the Minister that he was out of ord...
Lord Deben | 435 c759 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Speaker, is it in order for the Minister to promise a Member that he will answer his question an...
Paul Goggins | 435 c759 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is also worth reminding the House, as my hon. Friend the Member for Toot...
Paul Goggins | 435 c758-9 (Link to this contribution) Those with strong views about certain beliefs will still be able to speak out. It will still be poss...
Speaker | 435 c758 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman is not giving way. May I say that the private conversation in the Chamber ...
Speaker | 435 c759 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am quite sure that it is not a point of order, but I will hear the right hon. Gentleman.
Lord Deben | 435 c759 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
John Baron | 435 c744-6 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman wish to make an intervention? Apparently not. The Government are trying to ...
Chris Bryant | 435 c746-7 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been interesting, although I wonder whether the hyperbole advanced by Conservative Me...
David TC Davies | 435 c747 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Chris Bryant | 435 c747 (Link to this contribution) I usually give way, but I know that other Conservative Members want to speak and that only a few mor...
Chris Bryant | 435 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but the hon. Gentleman wholly fails to grasp the point that, as the Home Secretary state...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c748 (Link to this contribution) I simply have to say to the hon. Gentleman that if calling somebody superstitious could be taken as ...
Chris Bryant | 435 c747-8 (Link to this contribution) Usually, I always give way, but several other hon. Members want to speak and I know that we will rea...
Chris Bryant | 435 c748 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, but hesitantly.
Chris Bryant | 435 c749 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should mind his temperate language. Of course I believe in freedom of choice and ...
Mark Pritchard | 435 c749-51 (Link to this contribution) The United Kingdom has a long tradition of freedom of speech, and I believe that the Bill will curb ...
Chris Bryant | 435 c749 (Link to this contribution) Of course I believe in free will and freedom of choice. [Interruption.]
Speaker | 435 c749 (Link to this contribution) Order. We must not have interventions from a sedentary position.
Dominic Grieve | 435 c753-5 (Link to this contribution) It would be wise if the Government were to heed that problem and to listen to the contributions that...
Charles Walker | 435 c753 (Link to this contribution) Do Labour Members take any responsibility for the rise of the BNP over the past eight years, because...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c753 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, which is reflected in the Cantle report, if one bothers to ...
Philip Davies | 435 c753 (Link to this contribution) In Bradford, we have the misfortune of having four BNP councillors. I would like to make it clear th...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c751-3 (Link to this contribution) This has been a fascinating debate. It has been most enjoyable to sit through. We heard two maiden s...
Paul Goggins | 435 c755-6 (Link to this contribution) The one thing on which we can all agree is that we have had a rich, interesting and genuine debate. ...
Paul Goggins | 435 c756 (Link to this contribution) I have only a short time in which to respond to five and a half hours of debate, so I cannot keep ta...
Lord Deben | 435 c756 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that. If what I said would not be caught by the Bill, will he give us a sin...
Paul Goggins | 435 c756-7 (Link to this contribution) The wisdom of my path will be demonstrated when I come to that precise point later, but I will come ...
Paul Goggins | 435 c757 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. In a modern and diverse society such as ours, that is simply wrong, and we should n...
Paul Goggins | 435 c757-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. The first point had to do with what the prosecution would have to prove. Every Oppo...
Paul Goggins | 435 c758 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way on that point because I shall come to the request, made by the right hon. Member...
Paul Goggins | 435 c758 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way, but I can certainly tell the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal that ma...
Harry Cohen | 435 c742 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes his point well. He made a good point earlier about the way in which the BNP tri...
John Baron | 435 c742 (Link to this contribution) Does it not worry the hon. Gentleman that the Government have not been able to come forward with one...
Harry Cohen | 435 c742-3 (Link to this contribution) No, because as I and other hon. Members have said, there is a loophole that must be filled. I unders...
Martin Horwood | 435 c743 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman explain why that example would not be covered by the Lester amendment, which...
Harry Cohen | 435 c743 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge that that would be covered by the Lester amendment, but that amendment is weaker overa...
John Baron | 435 c743-4 (Link to this contribution) First, I commend the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) on his heartfelt address. How...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c741-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making important points and I do not disagree with his intentions. However, wi...
Sadiq Khan | 435 c742 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that mischievous examples such as that given by the hon. Member for Beacon...
Harry Cohen | 435 c742 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but the Secretary of State made it clear that the wording of th...
Charles Clarke | 435 c681 (Link to this contribution) I accept that there are concerns and my hon. Friend is right to say that they have been reflected in...
Charles Clarke | 435 c680 (Link to this contribution) First, no Attorney-General would consider the matter from the point of view of Government convenienc...
Dominic Grieve | 435 c697 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right on this issue; indeed, the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras...
Alistair Carmichael | 435 c696-7 (Link to this contribution) It will come as no great surprise to anyone in the House to hear me say that I agree with my hon. Fr...
Charles Clarke | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) Any attempt to define a religion in statute would be doomed to failure. Clause 12 of the explanatory...
David Davis | 435 c673 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary said in response to an intervention that it was required that the individual bein...
Speaker | 435 c716 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman has had his allotted time.
Patrick Hall | 435 c681-2 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening carefully to my right hon. Friend and have no doubts about his good intentions...
Charles Clarke | 435 c677-8 (Link to this contribution) As I set out earlier, a series of decisions about how that question is answered in relation to any p...
Charles Clarke | 435 c684 (Link to this contribution) That is a point that we have addressed on many occasions before and already in our discussion today....
Charles Clarke | 435 c675 (Link to this contribution) Actually, I think that the Bill’s compatibility with the European convention on human rights, which ...
Charles Clarke | 435 c674 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes his point and gives his example very clearly.
Edward Leigh | 435 c727 (Link to this contribution) Before I reply, I shall give way to my hon. Friend
Edward Leigh | 435 c726 (Link to this contribution) Earlier, I spoke to someone from the Christian Institute. Hon. Members will not be surprised by that...
Subjects
Incitement Racial violence Racially aggravated offences Religion Religious hatred Religious freedom Religiously aggravated offences Racial hatred
Legislation
Racial and Religious Hatred Bill (HL) 2005-06
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk