The Alliance and the Equality Bill

The atmosphere in the House of Lords' public gallery was thick with anticipation on Monday night as Peers debated the controversial Equality Bill.

Christians and secular humanists were crammed together in the gallery, holding their breath as three votes on a package of clauses which could dramatically affect Christians' future employment policies were held, one after the other.

"I practically fell to my knees with some other Christians who were there, praying together that God would overrule," says the Evangelical Alliance's Head of Public Policy Don Horrocks.

"When the vote finally came in we were so relieved, I dashed down to the Lords' lobby to thank those Peers who had participated. I actually found I had tears in my eyes, I was so grateful to God."

The Lords had voted against Government amendments to the Bill which Don says would have made it very difficult for Christian churches and organisations to employ people to a number of key roles whose lives would match their organisational moral ethos.

Instead, they voted for amendments put forward by Baroness O'Cathain, which sought to maintain the status quo.

The Equality Bill has been on the political agenda since 2006, and Don engaged with the process throughout, carefully scanning drafts, attending committee meetings and taking part in consultations.

Don regularly consulted with lawyers and Christian organisations that might be affected by the Bill to analyse its possible implications.

Sometimes the Alliance will decide to run a public campaign on a Bill, but in most cases - including this one - they prefer to engage constructively with the politicians face to face, focusing on those issues and concerns that are most important and that they believe they can successfully persuade governments to recognise.

In this case, the big issue they and others identified for Christians was the continued freedom to be able to choose to appoint appropriate people to roles in which they publicly represent the organisation and whose lives reflect that organisation's values.

Don played a key role in encouraging Christians and other religious groups to come together to respond to the Bill, and worked closely with a wide range of different parties to maintain a united, coherent Christian strategy and voice.

Some of the many groups involved in making significant representations to the Government about the Bill included the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, Christian Concern For Our Nation, the Christian Institute and CARE. Groups from other religions, such as the Muslim Council of Britain and the Hindu Council UK, also played an important role.

"I've never seen so many Christian and religious organisations and denominations as united on one issue," says Don.

"It really matters that you send out a consistent message when you're responding to a bill, so it was crucial that all of us were agreed."

As well as helping mobilise the Christian community for an effective response, Don worked closely with MPs, civil servants and Peers, explaining the reality of the implications of the Bill for ways in which Christian organisations function and why faith groups needed greater clarity.

He also debated these implications in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), where he is a member of the advisory body on religion and belief, and at conferences attended by Equality Minister Harriet Harman among others.

"Ideally it's best to try to seek necessary changes to a bill before it reaches Parliament," Don says.

"But in this case I was meeting with people about the Bill right up until the last minute, including Conservative and Labour front benchers and other members of the House of Lords, to try to persuade them that critical amendments were really needed.

"I think the Government did take on board some of our concerns, but unfortunately by the time they realised what a crucial and controversial issue it was going to be and agreed to make some adjustments to the Bill it was too late.

"They did eventually put forward a new amendment but failed to consult with us over the wording, so unfortunately it still did not address our concerns sufficiently. On the other hand, Baroness O'Cathain's amendment did."

Although the Lords have voted for this amendment, it is by no means the end of Don's work on this Bill. He has spent the days since the decision was made writing letters of thanks, and he is aware that it is still possible the House of Commons could contest the Lords' decision - though this could put survival of the whole Bill at risk.

If the Bill does go through with Baroness O'Cathain's amendment intact, Don will still have to spend much time working with the EHRC as they produce guidelines on how the Bill will be interpreted in practise.

He says it is unlikely this will be the last Bill where freedom of religion is an issue.

"As Christians, we believe strongly in justice and equality and we are generally in favour of bills which reflect this," he said.

"But we also want to be free to live our lives as missional Christians with integrity and to defend the freedoms of others. By engaging effectively with politicians we hope we can ensure the right balance is achieved which is fair to all."

Charis Gibson - Senior Press Officer