Andrew Brons MEP

The law should not tell political parties what their political principles should be

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by Andrew Brons in Parliamentary Questions

I made this contribution to a debate in the LIBE Committee (Human Rights, Justice and Home Affairs) yesterday.

The debate was primarily about discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, in the granting of services to the public. However, the debate inevitably broadened into one on discrimination on other grounds and in other spheres, such as employment.

This was particularly necessary in view of the Pope’s speech this week in which he said (of the British Government’s Equality Bill):

” Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

This is what I had to say to the other members of the committee:

“Most people would not want employees to be treated unfairly by their employers. Equally, they would not want people to be denied state services without good reason.

“However, the law goes too far when it tries to tell religions and religious denominations whom they should appoint as priests and ministers and when it tells them to contradict their deeply-held religious principles.

“Equally, the law should not tell political parties how to conduct their internal affairs and even what their political principles should or should not be.

“Laws in those areas would not advance freedom but would place serious restrictions on political and religious freedom.

“It seems that religious and political freedom in the European Union are dependent on political parties and religions signing up to an increasingly autocratic liberalism”.