Law intolerant of "religious conscience" is passed.

Good. I like it when right-wing conservatives whinge - it suggests that for once in its miserable existence, the Blair government may have got something right. The new Sexual Orientation Regulations will go some way towards combating institutional homophobia in this country, and any such steps are to be welcomed.

What really annoys me though, is that the new discourse on the part of the bigots who oppose such anti-discriminatory measures is one of "but you're being intolerant to our religious conscience". Of course, when asked to return that tolerance, religious conservatives don't tend to go for it, because theirs is the received truth of God. As discussed here before, this demand for one way tolerance actually gets currency these days on the left and amongst liberals. No one on the left (as far as I am aware) has publicly supported the maniacs who were demonstrating outside the commons as Lord Morrow's motion to wreck the new legislation went down in flames. However logically they really ought to have, especially those who believe that believing in a particular religion is the same thing as coming from an oppressed minority community. The two can coalesce, but they are nevertheless not the same thing.

In terms of the dear old left, I guess it's only a matter of time before the likes of Christian Voice say something that accords with the current project of one or another Trotskyist political party, at which point they'll be welcomed into the fold. And discussion of their views on other things will become taboo - lest those raising the issue be accused of "intolerance".

Now, I wonder if they're offering odds at William Hill?