Results 1-9 of 9 for gay speaker:Nick Herbert

Orders of the Day: Schedule 26 — Hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (6 May 2008)

Nick Herbert: ...trying to establish, and to find some way of writing into the Bill, is what happens when, for instance, religious groups express in a temperate and reasonable way their hostility to the conduct of gay people, as opposed to gay people themselves. I would rather that those groups did not do so. I object to such hostility, and I wish to debate with people the grounds for such criticism....

Orders of the Day: Schedule 26 — Hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (6 May 2008)

Nick Herbert: ...amendment is helpful, not unhelpful, and would offer the reassurance that is sought. We should remind ourselves that the Bill by no means commands universal support in the country or, indeed, among gay people. Some object to it in its entirety, believing that it amounts to an unnecessary restraint on free speech. I do not agree. There is a place for properly drafted legislation to extend...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 26 — Hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (6 May 2008)

Nick Herbert: .... Let me try to explain why. Although this is a free-vote matter for my party, we on the Conservative Front Bench support the principle of this legislation. I strongly support it; we all agree that gay people can live in fear and are subject to violent attacks, and that hateful lyrics broadcast against them, for example, have no place in a civilised society. We all agree that there is a...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 26 — Hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (6 May 2008)

Nick Herbert: ..., and if we pass a law that is abused and even results in arrests—even if no charges are brought—that law will be brought into disrepute. That would not help anybody, least of all the gay community. We all agree that we need to strike the right balance and that the right guidance needs to go to police officers to ensure that temperate comment is not caught by the legislation....

Orders of the Day: Schedule 26 — Hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (6 May 2008)

Nick Herbert: We need to remind ourselves that the purpose of the amendment is to say what will and will not be subject to the criminal law. The amendment does not weaken the protection for gay people, but it makes clear that the kind of temperate comment to which Stonewall referred will not be caught by the legislation. I would rather that people did not make such comment. I do not wish to indicate to...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 34 — Repeals and revocations (9 Jan 2008)

Nick Herbert: ...been given proper consideration by this House. I believe that we in the House of Commons have today treated the public, and in particular groups within the public, with complete contempt. What will gay people think about the House debating for only half an hour an important measure relating to their protection, in respect of which hon. Members, including me, were also suggesting that there...

Orders of the Day: "Part 3B — Hatred against persons on transgender grounds (9 Jan 2008) has video

Nick Herbert: ...harm. Just as we accepted that laws protecting a minority from hatred on grounds of their race were right 30 years ago, so there is a case for similar, if not directly comparable, protection for gay people, who do not choose their sexuality any more than people choose their ethnic origin. Enormous strides have been made in this country towards tolerance for homosexual people, but it...

Orders of the Day: "Part 3B — Hatred against persons on transgender grounds (9 Jan 2008) has video

Nick Herbert: ...behaviour would be caught by the offence. I believe that Church groups are right to seek clarity on that point. Amendment No. 1 does not seek to exempt expressions of dislike, insult or abuse of gay people. It relates only to conduct. The question before us is whether criticism of such conduct should be a matter for the criminal law. In my view, it should not. None of Stonewall's examples...

Orders of the Day: Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (8 Oct 2007)

Nick Herbert: ...carefully at the proposed offence of inciting homophobic hatred because clearly there are important considerations striking the right balance between protecting free speech and a desire to protect gay people from hatred. We will debate the provisions in Committee once we have seen them. The core purpose and effect of the Bill is confused; will the Bill send fewer people to prison or more...