Harebrained Hattie puts entire nation in a Gordian knot

I’ve looked askance at Harman’s Eekwalitee bill before.

This, however, crystallises what a monumental clusterfuck, of Human Rights Act magnitude, this legislation will be.

And don’t be distracted by the amusing headline.

Don’t even be sidetracked by the idea that the whiniest, most humourless bunch of twats in the country are having their right to be offended enshrined in law.

The paradox of Hattie’s little scheme is that the result will be the diametric opposite of equality and the total opposite of tolerance and forbearance. As minority after minority take their grievances of perceived prejudice, disadvantage, offence or discrimination through the courts, a hierarchy of protected minorities will emerge. The result will be an acceleration of the balkanisation of society that is already well established under this Labour government. The very divide-and-rule approach to control that has deprived the British people of their ability to just rub along together, brushing off perceived sleights.

• Gay rights will trump Christian rights.
• Muslim rights will trump gay rights and women’s rights.
• Women’s rights will trump men’s rights (except Muslim men).
• Pedestrians rights will trump those of cyclists.
• Cyclists’ rights will trump those of motorists.
• Mothers with baby buggies will trump the rights of pedestrians, especially if they’re breast-feeding at the time.
• Children’s rights will trump those of parents, except mothers, who are a protected group.

This way lies madness. Can anyone not see that?

Of course, before this bill has even passed, we have examples of the human rights of Global Warmong Believers being codified in law.

Members of cults and “new religions” such as Scientology, whose supporters include the film stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta, would also be offered protection, as would atheists.

A nice contradiction there, then. Those who believe in lunacy are protected. Those that perceive the lunacy to be just that will receive no protection. But crucially, those that believe the lunacy to be just that will receive protection under this bill. Faith will, in law, trump verifiable empirical and scientific evidence.

However, the opportunity for subversion appears ripe.

A code of practice explaining the legal implications of the equality bill states that religions need not be mainstream or well known for their adherents to gain protection. “A belief need not include faith or worship of a god or gods, but must affect how a person lives their life or perceives the world.”

Well now. Let me see. I believe that carbon dioxide is good for the planet, because it promotes plant growth, which not only helps to improve crop yields for food, but helps decimated forests to recover and surface water that would otherwise cause flooding to be absorbed by plants enjoying abundant CO2.

Ergo, going out for a blast in the motor, chewing up a whole tank of petrol, is the right thing to do today, and I must not be impeded by those who would denigrate my deeply cherished beliefs.

See the ECHR’s treatment of the Equality Bill here.

AJ

Advertisement