Last Tuesday evening there were two amendments to the Equality Bill giving the right to “conscientious objections” to gay equality measures. They were tabled by Baroness Butler-Sloss, who supported Lord Alli’s later amendment to allow religious faiths the right to hold civil partnership ceremonies and has in the past been a strong advocate of gay…
In commenting on the attendance and voting behaviour of the Lords Spiritual, I sometimes half-jokingly say that if two Bishops are present and there is a vote, one will usually go into Content lobby and the other into the Not Content lobby. Last night provided some evidence for my observation. Lord Alli introduced an amendment to…
Whenever the winner of a vote says it was a “victory for common sense” you can be sure we have been debating something profoundly unimportant. Baroness Warsi, the Conservative shadow minister for Community Cohesion, (great title isn’t it?) hailed the Government defeat in the Lords last night as a “victory for common sense”. She went on.. “We delivered…
The Second Reading debate on the Equality Bill took place in the House yesterday. It is a large and complex Bill, with some contentious provisions. As a result, it was a long debate with more than forty speakers. The debate lasted until almost 11.00 p.m. There were many serious points raised. However, there was the…
