Margaret Thatcher appointed Lord Mackay Lord Chancellor in 1987. This is a post with overall responsibility for the justice system in England and Wales. He served until the Conservatives lost power ten years ago. He is a Christian and spoke against the Sexual Orientation Regulations in the recent House of Lords debate. He kindly agreed to answer some questions for EN.
EN: Could you briefly explain how the passing of the Equality Act came about?
LM: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 were made by the Secretary of State with powers conferred by the Equality Act to enable regulations to be made to outlaw discrimination in the provision of goods and services, in the exercise of public functions, in education and rental and sale of premises. Similar regulations had been made for Northern Ireland and had been debated in the House of Lords on January 9 2007 on a ‘prayer’* by Lord Morrow to annul them.
