Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations — 19 Mar 2007 at 19:25

The majority of MPs voted to approve a set of regulations[1] that were made under the Equality Act 2006.[2]

This Act allows the Secretary of State to make regulations defining discrimination and harassment on grounds of sexual orientation, create criminal offences, and provide for exceptions.[2]

The Regulations define discrimination by a person A against a person B, on grounds of the sexual orientation of B or any other person except A, A treats B less favourably than he treats or would treat others (in cases where there is no material difference in the relevant circumstances).

According to the Regulations it is unlawful for a person A concerned with the provision of goods and services to the public to discriminate against a person B who seeks to obtain goods and services by refusing to provide B with goods and services of a quality which is similar to the quality of goods, facilities or services that A normally provides to the public.

The exceptions include matters concerning a person's home and family relations,[3] insurance,[4] blood donation,[5] Parliament and anything to do with GCHQ.[6]

As stipulated in the Act, the House of Lords also had to debate and pass the Regulations before they could come into force.[7]

Debate in Parliament | Source |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (Aye)Minority (No)BothTurnout
Con29 83 (+2 tell)058.2%
Independent0 11100.0%
Lab248 (+2 tell) 10073.9%
LDem29 4052.4%
PC2 0066.7%
SNP1 1033.3%
Total:309 99166.4%

Rebel Voters - sorted by constituency

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Nick HerbertArundel and South DownsCon (front bench)aye
Tony BaldryBanburyConaye
Alan BeithBerwick-upon-TweedLDem (front bench)no
Graham StuartBeverley and HoldernessCon (front bench)aye
Joe BentonBootleLab (minister)no
Andrew MacKayBracknellCon (front bench)aye
John BercowBuckinghamwhilst Con (front bench)aye
Andrew TyrieChichesterCon (front bench)aye
Theresa VilliersChipping BarnetCon (front bench)aye
Tom ClarkeCoatbridge, Chryston and BellshillLabno
Bob RussellColchesterLDem (front bench)no
Jim McGovernDundee WestLab (minister)no
Hugo SwireEast DevonCon (front bench)aye
Peter AinsworthEast SurreyCon (front bench)aye
Eleanor LaingEpping ForestCon (front bench)aye
Chris GraylingEpsom and EwellCon (front bench)aye
David WillettsHavantCon (front bench)aye
Jim DobbinHeywood and MiddletonLab (minister)no
Francis MaudeHorshamCon (front bench)aye
Bill WigginLeominsterCon (front bench)aye
Michael FabricantLichfieldCon (front bench)aye
Peter KilfoyleLiverpool, WaltonLabno
Alan MealeMansfieldLab (minister)no
Geraldine SmithMorecambe and LunesdaleLabno
Desmond SwayneNew Forest WestCon (front bench)aye
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLab (minister)no
Crispin BluntReigateCon (front bench)aye
Nigel EvansRibble ValleyConaye
James DuddridgeRochford and Southend EastCon (front bench)aye
Alan DuncanRutland and MeltonCon (front bench)aye
Robert KeySalisburyCon (front bench)aye
Andrew LansleySouth CambridgeshireCon (front bench)aye
Colin BreedSouth East CornwallLDem (front bench)no
Jeremy HuntSouth West SurreyCon (front bench)aye
Frank CookStockton NorthLab (minister)no
David DrewStroudLab (minister)no
Michael GoveSurrey HeathCon (front bench)aye
Andrew MitchellSutton ColdfieldCon (front bench)aye
George OsborneTattonCon (front bench)aye
Patrick McLoughlinWest DerbyshireCon (front bench)aye
Oliver LetwinWest DorsetCon (front bench)aye
Tim FarronWestmorland and LonsdaleLDem (front bench)no
David CameronWitneyCon (front bench)aye

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