Victory in Lords over Equality Bill

Church leaders have inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Government by overturning plans to force churches to hire gays and transsexuals. Peers voted 216 to 178 in favour of Lady O’Cathain’s amendment to keep the current law unchanged.

Update: 26/01/10

The Christian Institute reports (25/01/10):

Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of CCFON said:

Meanwhile Keith Porteous, the executive director of the National Secular Society has stated: ''The National Secular Society will once more complain to the European Commission. It is now quite likely the Government will be prosecuted in the European Court of Justice.'

The debate over the Equalities Bill clearly illustrates that the Christian faith is under attack by the European Union, the UK legislative trends and both atheist and gay lobby groups.

CARE who have been very active in the process and who supplied much of the information in the original article (below) comment as follows -

To read a transcript of the whole debate click on image below

The Equality Bill, which includes provisions that will make it impossible for many churches and other faith bodies to be confident of their freedom to live and operate according to their beliefs began its Committee Stage in the House of Lords earlier this week. But there is still time to press for an ammendment which would protect Christians and others on matters of conscience.

LEGAL experts have confirmed that, under the proposed law, churches would no longer be able to insist that employees, including priests, pastors and church leaders, live according the churches teaching about marriage and sexual conduct. It also seems certain that the Catholic Church will not be able to insist that successful priestly candidates are male and celibate.

The threat to religious liberty in the UK posed by the Equality Bill is highlighted by an important new report that comes out today. Produced by Christian public policy charity CARE, ‘A Little Bit Against Discrimination?,’ comes with a supporting foreword from the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern.

Lord Mackay who lives in the Highlands remains very active in bringing a Christian influence into the heart of the political and legislative process.
And in the House of Lords ealier this week he pointed out that Christian guest house operators and – for instance – both gay and Christian printers could be forced by the Equality legislation to take on printing contracts, the material content of which would violate their beliefs.

In the course of the debate Lord Mackay stated:

[The text of Lord Mackay's comments in the Lords' debate can be viewed here.]

The CARE report which includes Lord Mackay's foreward, explains that the offending part of the Bill - Schedule 9 - states that churches can only be free to insist that successful candidates must live the faith with respect to sexual ethics in relation to roles that are ‘wholly or mainly’ concerned with liturgy or ritual or promoting or explaining doctrine. Given that whilst Sundays might be concerned with liturgy, ritual and doctrine, the rest of the week is dominated by pastoral and other responsibilities, it is not clear how many churches will be able to continue with employed pastors if the Bill becomes law.

The plight of the Christian voluntary sector - certainly within the Evangelical and Catholic traditions - is also a major cause for concern. Given that no post within a Christian voluntary sector project, not even that of the CEO, would be concerned wholly or mainly with liturgy or ritual or promoting or explaining doctrine, certain Christian traditions could not be confident of their ability to insist that any member of staff lived the faith and in this context it becomes very unclear how such projects could continue.

Report author Dan Boucher explained:
 
‘When the sexual orientation goods and services legislation was presented in 2007 it was as unamendable secondary legislation. Parliament simply had the choice of voting for it or against it. There could be no fine tuning. This meant that those with concerns about the impact of the legislation on faith based adoption agencies had to decide whether they were prepared to vote all the legislation down because of this problem. During Committee Stage peers will be free to affirm the good in the sexual orientation goods and services legislation but amend it so that Catholic and other faith based adoption agencies can function.’

Anne Widdecombe silenced

At the Report Stage in the Commons last month, Ann Widdecombe engaged with this opportunity and tabled an amendment so that Catholic agencies could continue to operate as they have. Co-signed by a large number of MPs from across the parties, this was clearly an issue that the democratically elected house wanted to consider. In the event, however, the Government did not provide sufficient time and Miss Widdecombe was silenced. Happily the Lords now have the opportunity to engage properly with this important issue.

Indeed the point must be made that the House of Lords has a very special constitutional responsibility in its consideration of amendments because of the lack of scrutiny provided by MPs, resulting from the government’s unwillingness to give proper time. Over 100 amendments put down by the democratically elected people’s representatives were not discussed at all, let alone voted on. Of particular concern, this number included all 37 of the disability amendments tabled for debate – a strange way to handle a Bill that is supposed to promote fairness.

Make your views known

The Equality Bill proposes changing the law so that it will no longer be possible for churches to insist that successful job applicants live the faith in relation to sexual ethics. Not even church leaders are exempt, let alone anyone else.

CARE, together with other Christian organisations and churches has highlighted this problem since the Bill was published in April 2009. However the Government has refused to accommodate faith – until, that is, yesterday - when they announced their intention to ask the House of Lords to amend the Bill.

Whilst the Government's proposed amendment is undoubtedly an improvement, it means that, in practice, of the jobs that actually exist in church life, it will only really be possible to insist that ministers of religion practice the faith with respect to sexual ethics. Churches would not be able to require people serving in other ministry positions, such as youth work, to live the faith in relation to sexual ethics. Moreover, it is not at all clear how the Christian Voluntary Sector could continue, since it would not be possible to insist that any position, not even that of the CEO, should be filled by a Christian living the faith with respect to sexual ethics.

Happily, Baroness O'Cathain has put down amendments that will prevent any narrowing of the freedom to insist that successful applicants must live the faith with respect to sexual ethics.

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Please write to some or all of the Peers listed below and ask them to vote for the Baroness O'Cathain's Schedule 9 amendments explaining that the vote will take place on 25 January.
 

See also:     

Footnotes:
1. The title of the report, A Little Bit Against Discrimination? – with great emphasis on the question mark - is taken from Harriet Harman’s somewhat enigmatic explanation in 2007 that the government could not make provision for Catholic adoption agencies by changing its sexual orientation goods and services legislation because, one ‘cannot be a little bit against discrimination.’

2. There is now an on-line petition to the Goverment as a facility for all concerned parties to make their views known. The appeal has taken the name of Harry Hammond who was harrassed and convicted for taking a stand against homosexuality. 

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