New clause 3 - Religious belief
Employment Relations Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The new clause is important, especially to a group of people known as the Brethren who, as result of their religious beliefs, are concerned about parts of the Bill. Many hon. Members may well know of them as the Plymouth Brethren, but they are known more widely as the Brethren. They have been active in the UK for over 150 years, during which time they have been able to take advantage of the religious freedoms that are a traditional and important part of our culture. They operate roughly 1,200 businesses, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, employing 6,500 employees. The majority of those employees are themselves Brethren.
New clause 3 deals with matters of Christian conscience that are important to the Brethren. They aim to live their lives in strict accordance with the Holy Scripture and view the relationship between master and servant as holy. They regard trade associations and trade unions as inconsistent with that relationship in which they are involved. Their Christian scruples prevent them from recognising trade unions and from allowing trade union representation in their businesses.
It is important to stress that their practice as employers is almost invariably very good and beyond
any stricture. They are not bad employers and do not wish to exploit their employees. However, they wish to live their lives in accordance with their beliefs, which are a matter of tradition and culture and have generally been tolerated in this country for many years. Employment legislation in the past has often protected the right to Christian conscience. My new clause would protect that right for the Brethren, who are resident in different parts of the United Kingdom.
I am sure that the Committee knows this already, but the Brethren do not participate in the normal political process. I am not speaking on their behalf in anticipation that they may suddenly change their views, come into my constituency and campaign for me at the next election. There is no expectation of that. I am totally realistic and know that there is no party political significance here, but I want to defend the Brethren's right to freedom and tolerance. They should be allowed to practise their religion in their way in our country, as they have done for many years. I submit that they are decent people who live God-fearing lives based on the primacy of adherence to the Holy Scripture. That commitment renders it impossible for them to engage in any activity that would undermine the sanctity of the Lord's Supper. They are required to maintain an absolute separation from any activity that would cause them to violate that.
The Brethren are concerned about parts of the Bill, as the Minister will be aware because they have been to see him and had discussions with him. I am grateful to him for receiving them and for being extremely sympathetic and understanding to them. In those discussions he put it on the record that, in his opinion and that of his officials, they are thoroughly decent people and excellent employers who, in their own way, help wealth creation in this country and enjoy excellent relations with employees, many of whom, as I said, are themselves members of the Brethren.
There cannot be a large number of Brethren-owned or run businesses that would be affected by the Bill, as many of them are small. However, there are some that go beyond the threshold for recognition. We all hope that the small businesses of today will be the bigger businesses of tomorrow. Businesses that employ 20 or 30 people today may employ 40, 50 or 60 people tomorrow, and that is why the Brethren are concerned. They discussed with the Minister parts of the Bill that they are concerned about. I will not go into details, but the Minister is well aware of them, and the new clause would exempts the Brethren from the impact of those provisions.
I submit that Parliament has little meaning unless it recognises minorities and the fact that they matter. Majorities are important, and democracy is about respecting the wishes of the majority, but we should seek to respect the wishes of the majority in such a way that we never show contempt or do damage to the wishes of the minority. We are not talking about a large number of people.
If the Brethren were exempted from parts of the Bill, or afforded amendments, they would not wish in any way to undermine the law for the rest of the country. The House attaches great importance to the
principle of human rights. I do not need to remind the House that in the last Parliament, of which I was not a Member, there was a substantial debate in the House about human rights. If the Minister feels that what we are trying to do in the new clause, on behalf of the Brethren, is in any way consistent with his thinking, he might reflect on it and at least go some way to satisfy this genuine concern. If he judges that he can accept it, perhaps he can tell the Committee what action he intends to take to reassure this fine body of people that they can go on living their lives in accordance with their religious principles.