Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Bill

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 20th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Andrew Jones)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) for bringing forward a Bill on this important issue and for beating the Government to it. He will hopefully achieve a second change in the law. We have had a positive debate, and I have been struck by speeches from right across the House that have been considered, thoughtful, powerful, insightful and based upon experience. The Bill would remove wording from the statute book that is obsolete, unnecessary and wrong. As I shall explain, the wording currently on the statute book has no effect, but it represents a historical hangover from when it was possible that a seafarer—indeed, any employee—could be dismissed for being gay. That is no longer the case, but the laws that we pass in this place and that form our statute book represent, both practically and in the signals they send, the established morals and values of our country. It is right therefore that when the statute book contains wording that is inconsistent with those values we should change that wording. For that reason, the Government are happy to state now, formally, that we support this measure.

The sea and those who work on it—our maritime sector—contribute about £13.5 billion to our economy. More than 110,000 people are employed in the sector. That is significant to our country, and not just in economic terms; it is important to what we are and who we are as a people: an island race and a maritime nation. Our UK maritime social partners, who represent the employers and workers, are respected globally for their commitment and drive to improve the social, working and living conditions of seafarers, not just those of the UK, but those worldwide. They work closely with government, and as a tripartite we have a powerful voice; we will not agree on every point of detail, but we agree on many, and we listen to and respect each other.

The International Labour Organisation’s maritime labour convention, which the UK social partners were instrumental in drafting, has done much to improve conditions for seafarers, but it is not a panacea or end product; it will continue to evolve and strengthen. Its sister instrument, the working in fishing convention, will bring similar improvements for those working in the fishing sector—again, we can expect that to evolve. I mentioned our proud maritime history, and I made reference to those two instruments as examples of our commitment to and recognition of the importance of the seafarer. We sometimes lose sight of the importance of the maritime sector to our everyday lives. We do not question how our bananas, our new computer or even our bread and butter reach the shelves of our shops—or, for those who prefer to use the internet, arrive at the distribution centre for onward transit to our homes. We may be aware that the product came from the other side of the world, but unless we live near the coast any consideration of the merchant navy or its seafarers might not be something that is at the front of our minds. But it does matter, which is why this Government commissioned the independent maritime growth study in 2014 to consider the opportunities and challenges the UK faced in maintaining its position as a leading maritime centre.

The study looked at all aspects of the maritime sector and identified where action could be taken to generate growth. We have achieved much since the publication of the maritime growth study: we have put in place a solid set of structures within government, including a successful ministerial working group, based on constructive engagement with the industry. The efforts from across the whole industry have been impressive, bringing together so many organisations and bodies, often with very different objectives, many of which can seem contradictory. Yet, we are working under one promotional umbrella to address all the major issues affecting the sector.

However, we cannot afford to relax; we must make the best of every opportunity. It is clear that Britain’s maritime sector has to be as great as it can be—greater than we imagined possible over the years. What might that mean? Of course the gateway for our exports and imports is through our ports, so it is not enough just to get goods off the ships—we have to get them to where they are needed. That is why the Government are investing in road and rail, as well as considering what the possibilities might be for improving connectivity to our ports. The point is that our transport is a network, one that includes the sea.

Above all, we also need to think about the essential contribution made by those who work within the sector. One of the four major themes from our study is “Skills”. The UK rightly prides itself on producing many of the best-trained officers and crew serving on ships around the world, as well as those with expertise in areas such as law, insurance, finance and the logistical skills for managing ships and ports. This is an incredible skills base that supports our whole maritime sector. The Government currently support that with a budget for maritime training, which we are taking the opportunity to review. We have also committed to increasing the quality and quantity of apprenticeships, including within the maritime sector. The sector has a very strong record on apprenticeships, and new opportunities are being developed all the time. we want to see the number of trainees, both ratings and officers, increase. We are looking across the board at the skills and opportunities that the sector needs, but the image of that sector is let down by those clauses still remaining on our statute book.

What the sector needs is to create and promote a bright, forward-looking, fully inclusive sector that provides well-paid, varied, fulfilling job opportunities with real long-term career prospects. Those seeking to fill vacancies should be able to do so on merit—a point made by several colleagues today—and they should not have to think that their sexuality might be a factor.

The UK has a proud record of promoting equality for LGBT people, including the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples. Part of the image of the maritime sector, a sector that has done much for the LGBT movement, is tarnished when such ludicrous and outdated clauses remain on the statute book. We are recognised as one of the most progressive countries in Europe for LGBT rights by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. We have one of the world’s strongest legislative frameworks to prevent and tackle discrimination. We recognise that people who work in an inclusive environment, free from discrimination, are more likely to achieve their potential.

The Equality Act 2010 protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination, harassment or victimisation in the workplace. I am pleased to say that the UK shipping industry is well ahead of us in removing discriminatory rules and practices with regard to the LGBT community. When consulted on the proposed repeal of the provision, the Chamber of Shipping and the maritime unions expressed surprise that it had not gone years ago. And industry publications bear this out. The “UK Merchant Navy Code of Conduct”, which forms the basis of disciplinary and grievance processes in many UK shipping companies, has not made use of the exception allowed to the merchant navy by this provision for many years, and uses entirely inclusive language, for example in the paragraphs prohibiting sexual harassment.

The UK’s National Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Committee has produced guidelines on preventing bullying and harassment, which were adopted by European social partners and subsequently internationally. These guidelines define harassment in the same inclusive way as we would expect in any company anywhere in our country. It has also published guidance for shipping companies on HIV and AIDS, including advice on prevention and on policies for employing those infected with HIV. There is doubtless more to do, but both I and the Department are always happy to do what we can to help with that. If anyone has any suggestions about how we can make the merchant navy a more rewarding and fulfilling career that is open to all, irrespective of sexual orientation, the door will always be open.

Of course, the situation for LGBT people has not always been as fair as it is now. Given that, I would like to spend a moment detailing how the current wording of the statute came about. In particular, colleagues may wish to have more information about the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which this Bill would amend. The Act took a significant step forward in the gradual development of LGBT rights in the United Kingdom, but still left much to be done. It is the last UK Act to have a whole part simply entitled “Homosexuality”, and it was responsible for reducing the age of homosexual consent from 21 to 18.

The background to the sections we are now amending is as follows. Homosexual acts in private had been decriminalised by section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1967. However, that Act left a few areas in which homosexual acts could still be an offence. In particular, the Act allowed that a homosexual act could still be an offence under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 or the Naval Discipline Act 1957. It also remained an offence to commit a homosexual act on board a merchant ship. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 did not extend to either Scotland or Northern Ireland, but similar provision was made in those jurisdictions by section 80 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 and by the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982.

Sections 146 and 147 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 removed the remaining criminal liability. The Government had already decided in 1993 that prosecutions should not be brought under military law for homosexual acts per se. Following that, the decision that homosexual acts in the merchant navy should be decriminalised as well was announced in a written answer in the House of Commons in December 1993. This appears to have been influenced by the Government’s understanding that the provision had been very little used.

The repeals were therefore accomplished under section 146 (1), (2) and (3) for England and Wales and Scotland, and under section 147 (1) and (2) for Northern Ireland. However, sections 146 (4) and 147 (3) were added during the passage of the Bill, following non-Government amendments in the other place. There appear to have been concerns that making homosexual conduct legal in the armed forces and the merchant navy might mean that homosexuals could not be dismissed for engaging in it or that such conduct could not be used as the basis of a prosecution under military discipline laws.

The Government’s view at the time was that the amendments were unnecessary. As a general principle, just because something is legal does not mean that people cannot be fired from their jobs for doing it. Obviously, if someone decides to watch television instead of going to work, that is not illegal, but it may well result in them being fired. The Government considered that they could still continue to discharge people from the armed forces because they were homosexual, irrespective of the wording of the 1994 Act, and employers could continue to discharge homosexuals from the merchant navy. Of course, both situations have now changed and it is not possible to discharge people because of their sexual orientation, but at the time the amendments were thought unnecessary.

Even though the legislation is of no current effect, we would prefer that it gave no such implications. I will quickly detail how those sections have changed and why they have no legal application today. They have been progressively repealed over the years, and they now only refer to the merchant navy. The provisions that relate to military discipline offences were repealed by the Armed Forces Act 2006, and all references to the armed forces were removed from the sections by the Armed Forces Act 2016.

We have been on a journey. We have a story of progress that has left the merchant navy, despite all its historic achievements for our country, as a historical hangover that we must correct. There are protections, though, and it is fair to say that the merchant navy’s attitudes have been ahead of the legislative picture covering them. As colleagues have said, the merchant navy has a proud tradition of tolerance and respect for the individual. The seafaring culture has contributed to the development of gay culture worldwide. Homosexuality was illegal in Britain until 1967, but a voyage could be a slightly different world. Seafarers were and are exposed to different practices, cultures and attitudes around the world, and they could convey those insights home. Of course, that is not to say that life on board was a new world for all homosexuals. People could still lose their jobs and face hostility and bullying, but there were greater freedoms than on land.

What we have is a Bill that at its heart addresses a historical wrong and the inadequacy of legislation to keep pace with our culture and with the achievements in the cultures in merchant navy. We have a skilled and expert workforce who make a significant contribution to our country. We need to maintain and enhance that workforce. We need to celebrate and promote our whole maritime sector. We can be proud of our maritime past, and we should be even more confident of what we can be in the future.

The Equality Act 2010 and other legislation rightly protect the rights of individuals. The Bill is therefore symbolic, but it serves to remove obsolete sections, which have no place remaining on the statute book and reflect the attitudes of a different time. It sends a message that has been powerfully articulated by colleagues in the debate. The Government support the Bill.