Wilson welcomes Lords votes on Equality Bill
East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has welcomed the result of votes this week in the House of Lords.
The House of Lords voted to reject the Governments proposals that would force churches and religious organisations to hire people whose lifestyles were in direct opposition to the teachings and beliefs that they held.
Mr Wilson said:
“I welcome the result of the votes this week, and I am pleased that the status quo was maintained. The changes proposed by the Government have little to do with solving problems that currently exist or making good legislation. Rather the Government simply does not like the deeply held beliefs that many of our churches and religious organisations hold.
Their proposals would have meant that organisations would be forced to hire people whose beliefs and values clearly would have gone against the organisation they were working for. This is not equality; this is a complete lack of common sense. I wonder how the Labour Party would respond if it was forced to hire people with Conservative beliefs. I do not think that they would want people to work for them who had such contrasting views to their own and rightly so. It is right that these proposals were defeated.
I congratulate the House of Lords on voting for common sense.”
