THE BISHOP of Southwark, Dr Tom Butler, says the
Government’s proposed new employement regulations lack clarity. The regulations
are intended to combat discrimination and victimisation on grounds of sexuality
or religious belief.
Faith groups had been alarmed by an original draft of the regulations, fearing
that the freedom of religious bodies to employ staff who were practising
believers would be restricted.
The Independent on Sunday hinted this week that there had been direct
intervention from Downing Street, overruling the Minister at the Department of
Trade and Industry, Barbara Roche.
The Archbishops’ Council’s request for an opt-out clause for “organised religions”
appears to have been wholly acceded to. A new clause exempts employers who act
to comply with the religious ethos of the company or to avoid conflict with the
“strongly held beliefs of a significant number of its followers”.
Dr Butler said the new regulations were a “considerable improvement” on the
original document, but he remained concerned about the amount of litigation
that the new regulations were likely to generate: “we regret that the
Government has not introduced as much clarity in them as we had sought. We
shall be closely monitoring their implementation.”
“The proper legal protection of individual rights, which we support, needs to
be consistent with the rights of the Churches and other faith groups to
religious freedom,” he said. “That must include the ability to set our own
requirements about belief and conduct in respect of those who serve and
represent us. We shall be closely monitoring the implementation of the
regulations.”
Under the new regulations, employers can dismiss or fail to hire an individual
if they are “not satisfied” that they fit their “ethos based on religion or
belief”. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) this week accused the
Government of capitulating to right-wing fundamentalists: the concessions won
now allowed them to discriminate against lesbian and gay people.
The LGCM general secretary, the Revd Richard Kirker, said government ministers
had allowed themselves to become “apologists for the most intolerant religious
bigots”.
The Sexual Orientation regulations did not require the employees to establish
that being of a different sexual orientation was contrary to the doctrines of
the relevant religion, said Mr Kirker.
It was enough if a sufficiently vocal and homophobic minority held that view.
The Religion and Belief regulations appeared to allow any employer to declare
his or her business “faith-based”.