That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows:
“Most Gracious Sovereign—We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which was addressed to both Houses of Parliament”.
My Lords, it is an honour and a pleasure to open this second day of debate on Her Majesty’s most gracious Speech.
The topics that we are due to cover are wide-ranging. My speech will therefore take noble Lords on a journey that at times might feel somewhat circuitous, but there is a common thread running throughout: the Government’s continuing commitment to deliver on the issues that really matter to the people of the United Kingdom. That includes, for example, fighting crime wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head, empowering those tasked with keeping us safe to do their critical work, delivering a criminal justice system that works in the interests of the law-abiding majority, and ensuring that our laws reflect the way that we communicate, consume and do business in the modern world.
National security is the foremost responsibility of any Government. It is an immense task. The scale and breadth of the threats that we face cannot be overestimated and, on that point, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to all those who work tirelessly to protect the public. For them to do their jobs effectively, it is vital that our laws keep pace with the ever-changing threat picture. The National Security Bill will deliver the biggest overhaul of state threat legislation for a generation. It will harden the UK’s resilience against hostile activity from foreign states and ensure that our world-class law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the tools that they need to protect our national security. The Bill will reform espionage laws dating from the beginning of the 20th century, introduce new offences to tackle foreign-state-linked sabotage and interference, and enhance police powers to support these measures.
A registration scheme will be created to help combat damaging or hostile influence exerted by foreign states in the UK. This will be added post introduction so that we can take the time needed to ensure its effectiveness. As a tool of last resort, a new suite of state threat prevention and investigation measures will be introduced to manage those who pose a threat but have not met the threshold for prosecution. While the majority of the National Security Bill will focus on countering hostile threats from foreign states, the Bill will also include measures to prevent the exploitation of our civil legal aid and civil damage systems by convicted terrorists.
We must remain alert to the threat from terrorism. The Manchester Arena attack in 2017 has particular resonance for me but, whenever and wherever the atrocities occur, we owe it to the victims and their families to learn every lesson and, where necessary, to take action to enhance public safety. The Protect duty Bill will establish a new requirements framework which mandates those in control of certain public locations and venues to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures. The Government have worked closely with partners and victims’ groups to develop these proposals, including Figen Murray, to whom I pay tribute, and the Martyn’s law campaign team. Our message is clear: we will do what it takes to keep law-abiding citizens safe and to protect our national security.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing today’s debate on the Motion on the humble Address. It is an honour to be opening for these Benches and significant for me personally, as I gave my maiden speech on the second day of the debate on the gracious Speech last year, which perfectly mirrors the timing of this debate. I start by expressing gratitude from these Benches to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for delivering the gracious Speech. We send our warmest wishes to Her Majesty the Queen, whose service to this country has been and remains extraordinary.
This debate covers hugely important areas of British life that we, as a nation, are proud of and that we on these Benches, along with Members from across your Lordships’ House, are determined to protect. It covers everything from our justice system to our rights as individuals, including our right to dissent and to challenge when justice is not done, all the way through to our exceptional cultural sector, and the prospects and fortunes of our local football teams. My noble friend Lord Ponsonby will respond to the debate and focus in greater depth on the justice, constitutional and home affairs aspects, but I will make some opening remarks.
It is disappointing that so much of what is in front of us now has already been promised and announced time and again by Ministers—often multiple times over multiple years—but with a failure so far to deliver. On action for victims of crime, a Bill has been promised in not one, two or even three Queen’s Speeches, but in four, as well as in three manifestos. Even now, the Bill we are again promised is only in draft form. National security legislation has been promised since 2019, after being recognised as a necessity through the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee. For years, Members across the political spectrum have called on the Government to act against corruption and illicit Russian money being laundered through the UK. We welcome the inclusion of an economic crime Bill, but have to put the question: why has it taken an international crisis for this Government to act?
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her opening speech. I shall concentrate on DCMS matters. How excellent it is to have a Minister from that department responding. I remember a time when culture did not even make it as a subject for the Queen’s Speech. You wait years and then seven DCMS Bills come along.
We support the thrust of the Online Safety Bill. It is very important, but the devil will be in the detail on the definition of harms, especially harms to our children, enforcement powers and the fine line between defending free speech while protecting citizens from online abuse and disinformation, which, as we have seen in the US, potentially undermines democracy itself. My noble friend Lord Clement-Jones will expand on this and other digital Bills.
We also welcome proposals for an independent football regulator and support Tracey Crouch’s review. My noble friends Lord Marks and Lord Wallace will cover justice and the constitution. We have just heard from the Minister of State for the Home Office. The House will not be surprised to hear that I will be leaving legislation from her department to my noble and—I cannot resist a literary reference—brilliant friend Lord Paddick.
There is, however, one very important matter where there is overlap: the ability, or lack of it, of our creative artists to tour Europe. My noble friend Lord Strasburger has been leading a campaign on the quagmire that has ensued as a result of a no-deal Brexit fuelled by Home Office intransigence. It is interesting that the noble Lord, Lord Frost, chief Brexit negotiator, admitted that a deal could have been done with Europe, but the Government were too purist about the issue. Does the Minister accept that this has been nothing short of a disaster for our creative sector? Does he not agree with the noble Lord, Lord Frost, that the Government should take another look at what he calls “mobility issues” and try to salvage the situation?
11:47 am
Lord Judge (CB)
My Lords, listening to the gracious Speech I heard words that filled me with joy:
“Her Majesty’s Government will ensure the constitution is defended.”
Then I listened, as one does:
“Her Majesty’s Ministers will restore the balance of power between the legislature and the courts”,
and I thought, like the editor of Private Eye, “surely some mistake”.
There is no balance needed. We legislate—we try to legislate with clarity—the courts interpret our legislation and, if we do not like the way the courts have interpreted the legislation, it comes back to us and we put them right. There is no difficulty about that relationship—perish the thought.
I thought the words were going to be, “Her Majesty’s Ministers will restore the balance of power between the legislature and the Executive”, because that is the relationship that needs to be addressed. Noble Lords have heard me bang on about Henry VIII powers. I just do not like a Minister by statutory instrument being able to revoke primary legislation, let alone secondary legislation. As for skeleton Bills, I find it absolutely extraordinary that we ever pass them. We say to ourselves: “Let us give the Minister powers before the Minister has the slightest idea how he or she is going to exercise them.”
Two of the most important pieces of work in the last Session were the reports that we received from our Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, Government by Diktat: A Call to Return Power to Parliament, and from our Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, Democracy Denied? The Urgent Need to Rebalance the Power Between Parliament and the Executive. That is what I thought I heard, or at least what I hoped I had heard, during the Queen’s Speech. I apologise for my disloyalty in thinking there may have been some misreading of what was in the text.
These were not a bunch of sparky students nor even eccentric academics. They were two of our own Select Committees repeating warnings that they have given and which the Constitution Committee has been giving us for years. They were cross-party and always unanimous. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, will be speaking about his own committee’s report in due course, but as we look at him—forgive me—do we see Wat Tyler or John Lilburne? Do we see Oliver Cromwell? Actually, no, that must be the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra. What about the noble Lord, Lord Lisvane? He is another of them. These are committees of this House carefully addressing a prime issue of constitutional importance.
Noble Lords
Hear, hear!
Lord Judge (CB)
This is where the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, is going to be very troubled. Is it not possible that some time, instead of a regret Motion, if a statutory instrument proposes the extension of undue power to the Executive, we throw that one out too? I am only asking your Lordships to consider the possibility—otherwise, why do we not just go on talking?
My Lords, it is wonderful to be speaking in this debate on Her Majesty’s gracious Speech. It is always a privilege to listen to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, who is a very hard act to follow. I refer to my interest stated in the register as Anglican bishop of prisons.
As has been said, we know that people are increasingly experiencing hardship in our current climate. In the gracious Speech there was an emphasis on so-called levelling up and tackling disadvantage, whether rooted in education, health, a lack of appropriate housing or low income. Often those issues intersect.
In Old Testament scripture, in the book of the prophet Amos, we have the words “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”. I want to begin with justice, because layers of disadvantage are reflected in every aspect of our criminal justice system. In speaking of the criminal justice system, I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, who I greatly appreciated interacting with in his role as a Minister in your Lordships’ House.
I was perturbed that in relation to criminal justice the gracious Speech referred only to keeping the streets safe. I urge Her Majesty’s Government to pay good attention to preventive and rehabilitative measures rather than simply creating more prison places. We are failing both victims and perpetrators of crime, and indeed society itself. I wonder what happened to the plans for a desperately needed royal commission on criminal justice. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act is not “job done”.
The UK’s current prison population is already the largest in western Europe and it just does not square with the aspiration of making our communities safer. I wonder if we know the statistic for those in prison who do not pose a major threat to public safety on the streets. Undoubtedly, many people who will occupy new prison places are those who are caught downstream because we have not looked upstream. So, I am encouraged to hear of an ambition for children with regard to schools and education, yet we must not forget the critical role of early years in order to keep a focus on giving children the best start in life for emotional and social development. This is upstream from the criminal justice system, and it includes appropriate support for parents and carers.
12:00 pm
Lord Mackay of Clashfern (Con)
My Lords, I am sure the House will appreciate that there are many things in the gracious Speech upon which I would like to speak. I am glad to associate myself with what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, has said in that connection.
What I want to do this morning will be very brief. A little phrase in the Queen’s Speech says:
“Legislation will also be introduced to ban conversion therapy.”
I expect that that is absolutely clear to all of your Lordships but it is not at all clear to me. First, “ban” is rather ambiguous, because it could involve criminal responsibility or some other forms of banning. Then there is “conversion”, a word with which I have been pretty familiar all my life. It was always regarded primarily as meaning that a person took more interest in religion at a particular stage in his or her life than they had taken before. On the other hand, it is also used in connection with moving from one religion to another and in connection with, say, changing a car from being dependent on petrol to electricity. The word is somewhat large in scope. Then we come to “therapy”. I have always understood that therapy was about, if possible, making you better. You went along and hoped that you would get some sort of therapy that would make you better when you came out than when you went in, so I find this very difficult. However, it is not without precedent.
I have tried to understand this business over some months and have read an erudite legal report about it—the Cooper Report—which indicates the nature of the problem. I have studied that extremely carefully and think it is talking about a type of banning by criminal jurisdiction, by making something or other a crime. The question is: what is it that is to be made a crime? In that report, very learned and experienced people have set out a whole lot of illustrations. The passing from the one side to the other, from innocence to guilt, is quite difficult to make out from this great learning. I think I read that the definition is so difficult that it should be made a bit wider than what at first sight might appear to catch what may not be quite a crime under this idea.
It strikes me that, if you are starting to alter the criminal law, the last thing you want is to incorporate in crimes things for which nobody regards a criminal responsibility as arising. To make it wider, just in case you cannot catch all that is in this definition, is surely a rather terrible scourge on the idea of a proper criminal situation. It is a mighty difficult subject which is covered by those three small words.
My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble and learned Lord. On conversion therapy, it seems that, if ever a Bill needed to be published in draft form and subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, this is it. It is a great pity that the Government decided not to go down that route, not least on the issue of gender, which the Government say they will not be dealing with. One of the big issues will be the role of doctors and what will be legitimate as advice to be given to them. The report by Hilary Cass into GIDS lays out some of the issues that need to be considered, particularly in relation to the drugs given to young people. I believe this warrants careful attention. Even now, I say to the Minister that surely this ought to be subject to proper pre-legislative scrutiny.
I want to talk about the Online Safety Bill. I absolutely understand the reasons why it has been brought forward and that we have to do everything we can to protect the safety of users from some of the vile abuse that appears online every day, causing suffering for people. My noble friend Lady Merron was absolutely right to point out the urgent need for action. But there is a paradox at the heart of the problem which the Government have been attempting to solve, for while social media companies have been slow to act against much of this vile online abuse, particularly some of the material aimed at children, they have been keen to impose their own social values on users of their services. In clamping down on legal but harmful content online, the Bill carries a risk to freedom of expression, since the Government are essentially legitimising the major tech companies to impose their values on us even more.
As the British and Irish Law Education and Technology Association told the pre-legislative scrutiny committee on the Bill:
“In being asked to make determinations of legal speech, commercial platforms are being trusted with decisions on what is—or is not—permitted speech.”
12:12 pm
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The Public Order Bill, introduced in the House of Commons yesterday, will be familiar to noble Lords, as many of its measures were brought forward in January as amendments to the then Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Regrettably, noble Lords rejected the amendments, and the passage of time has served only to reinforce the pressing need for these measures. The Bill will ensure that the police have the powers that they need to prevent and reduce this kind of serious disruption to our transport networks and key national infrastructure which we have seen in recent months. It includes a number of new offences including ones relating to locking on, obstructing the construction of major transport works and interfering with the use or operation of key national infrastructure. The Bill also provides for serious disruption prevention orders to target protesters who are determined to repeatedly inflict disruption on the public. The concern in January was that these measures had not been properly scrutinised. The new Bill will ensure that both Houses will have the opportunity to do just that. I hope that, having done so, we can then get these measures quickly on to the statute book.
I welcome the fact that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act is now on the statute book. As I have said, towards the end of its passage the focus was on the public order measures, but we should not forget that it is a wide-ranging Act delivering new laws to protect the public, support our police and cut crime. The Government’s focus now is on implementing the provisions of the Act as soon as practicable, with a raft of measures coming into force on 28 June.
The Government are bearing down on kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists who abuse our financial system. We will build on the recently enacted Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act by bringing forward the economic crime and corporate transparency Bill to further strengthen the UK’s reputation as a place where legitimate business can thrive while dirty money has no place to hide. The Bill will include reforms to Companies House, reforms to prevent abuse of limited partnerships, new powers to seize crypto assets from criminals, and reforms to give businesses more confidence to share information in order to combat economic crime. The Bill will support enterprise, enabling Companies House to deliver a better service, and maintain swift and low-cost routes for company creation. It will also boost the UK’s defences against economic crime, including fraud and money laundering, delivering greater protections for consumers and businesses.
The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to enact legislation dedicated to tackling modern slavery, through the landmark Modern Slavery Act 2015, and we remain a world leader in these efforts. We have already made significant progress through the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which provides clarity to victims and decision-makers on victims’ rights, supports the early identification of possible victims and tackles abuses in the system, but we need to go further. When it comes to confronting the evils of modern slavery and human trafficking, we simply cannot afford to stand still.
The new modern slavery Bill will build on our existing legislation to strengthen the requirements on businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to eradicate modern slavery in their supply chains. It will extend these requirements to public authorities, mandate the reporting areas to be covered in modern slavery statements, require organisations to publish their statements on a government-run registry and introduce tougher financial penalties for non-compliance. The Bill will also improve the effectiveness of court orders to prevent modern slavery offenders committing crimes, and improve the support system for victims. Ahead of the introduction of the Bill, we will publish an ambitious new modern slavery strategy setting out our approach to tackling this heinous form of criminality.
Falling victim to crime is a traumatic and often devastating experience. The impact is often profound and can stay with people for many years, even their whole lives. We must give them every possible chance of recovering. The victims Bill will guarantee that victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system and ensure that the right support is available at the right time. The Bill will place the victims’ code into law, sending a clear signal about what victims can and should expect, and it will drive up standards by increasing transparency and oversight of victims’ services provided by the criminal justice agencies.
I have discussed the need for reform of our immigration and asylum system on numerous occasions here. The Government’s New Plan for Immigration set out our vision for what is a much-needed overhaul, and the Nationality and Borders Act, with which this House is very well acquainted, is the legislative vehicle for delivering that change. We are embarking on this effort at a time when the world is facing a global migration crisis. The United Kingdom has a long tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need. We are rightly proud of the way that our country stands up for what is right. Offering the hand of friendship to those in desperate need is what we do. It is what we will continue to do.
We cannot continue to operate a parallel system for those arriving in the United Kingdom illegally, having travelled through safe third countries. The world-leading migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda is part of our comprehensive overhaul of the asylum system. It will help to break the smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life. We are also stepping up our operations in the channel to tackle highly dangerous crossings. Border Force and Royal Navy officers and assets are working side by side, and their joint work will be supported by £50 million of new funding. There has been much debate about our approach, but the simple fact is that people are risking their lives attempting to reach the UK and we will not shy away from taking action to prevent further tragedies.
The world is united in horror at Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Once again, this country’s impulse, in the face of such a horrific situation, is one of compassion and support. Through the visa schemes we have set up and our wider humanitarian response, the Government have sent a message loud and clear: the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine. We will continue to do what is right.
Our desire to keep the public safe is not confined to what we might call the physical or offline world. Under the ground-breaking Online Safety Bill, tech companies will be accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users safe. There will not be a safe space for criminal content online. Platforms will have to quickly remove illegal content, including terrorist material and child sexual abuse and exploitation, and there will be a particular focus on protecting children from harmful or inappropriate content. The Bill also contains important safeguards for freedom of expression. We are committed to getting this right, and I am grateful to colleagues for their input so far. I am sure that the insight and knowledge across this House will be of great value as the Bill progresses.
We are more connected than ever before. Through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infra- structure Bill, we will make sure that these connections are fast and secure. We need our tech to work remotely and to be secure. Underneath all that, we need the digital infrastructure to support these connections. That is why this Government have made huge investments in digital infrastructure. To stay ahead of the game, this Bill is needed to keep transforming tomorrow’s networks and securing ourselves against future threats.
The Government are also committed to establishing a new pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime will introduce clear rules on how the most powerful tech firms should treat businesses and consumers when delivering key services, such as social media and online searches. The regime will be overseen by a dedicated digital markets unit, which will be housed in the Competition and Markets Authority. The unit will have robust powers to enforce the regime, including tough fines of up to 10% of a firm’s global turnover for breaches. We will publish draft legislation in this Session and a Bill will be introduced as parliamentary time allows.
The UK’s broadcasting industry is a global success story. We want our public service broadcasters to remain at the heart of that success. By delivering a major and much-needed update to broadcasting legislation, we will enable our broadcasters to compete and thrive in the 21st century. This will be good for audiences, for British-originated content, for our economy and for our ability to project British values globally.
International trade plays a vital role in our domestic economy but, due to existing laws, some of which date back to the 19th century, trade still relies on billions of paper documents, which is costly, inefficient and outdated. A proposed Bill will remedy this and provide businesses with more choice and flexibility on how they trade. Modernising the law and putting electronic trade documents on the same legal footing as paper documents is essential to remove the need for wasteful paperwork and needless bureaucracy. The Bill will allow businesses to use electronic trade documents when buying and selling internationally, making it easier, cheaper, faster and more secure to trade.
The Government will shortly set out proposals designed to create a data protection regime that is pro-growth and innovation-friendly while also maintaining the highest data protection standards. The proposed reforms will reduce burdens on businesses and scientists, improve enforcement of data protection breaches and make data protection law clearer. The Bill will also make good on the Government’s commitment to legislate for other policies in similar subject areas, such as increasing industry participation in smart data schemes and enabling a secure and trusted digital identity market across the economy.
The Government were elected with a manifesto commitment to update the Human Rights Act and ensure that there is a proper balance between the rights of individuals, national security and effective government. We remain committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and are acutely conscious of this country’s long and proud history of protecting and promoting freedoms. The Bill of Rights will enable us to build on that long-standing tradition by reinforcing freedom of speech, strengthening our common-law traditions, restoring public confidence in the system and curbing abuse of the human rights framework by criminals. Given the abundance of knowledge and experience within this House, I am anticipating an insightful and comprehensive debate.
As Her Majesty’s Speech demonstrates, we are as determined as ever to change our society for the better and improve people’s lives. Our mission is clear: to make the country safer, stronger and more prosperous. I assure the House that the Government’s commitment to that endeavour is undiminished. I beg to move.
The much-delayed Online Safety Bill, which must be about recognising that in today’s world online is the front line when it comes to keeping our children safe and protecting people from fraud and abuse, is finally before us, but with an outline that leaves very much still to be achieved.
On football governance, action is urgent. The Government’s briefing says that governance has not kept pace with development and reform is needed, yet they have confirmed that they do not expect a regulator to be in place until 2024.
Your Lordships’ House will of course work to scrutinise what is finally promised and to make the long-awaited legislation the best it can be, but it is disappointing to say the least to find that the Government are playing catch-up on issues as vital as these as well as on many others. There is a continuous thread: the Government seem to have the wrong focus at the wrong time.
On the Home Office and issues of justice, victims of crime are being badly let down in this country, with record court backlogs, rising crime and low prosecution rates and a huge number of victims losing faith in the system altogether. Yet, for example, despite the very real level of public concern, there is no much-needed Bill to tackle violence against women and girls. Instead the Government plan to focus on reducing the British public’s right to challenge when the justice system fails them.
Turning to DCMS, this is the Session when your Lordships’ House will finally get to scrutinise the Online Safety Bill, but that legislation does not appear to be as fit for purpose as we hoped. The Joint Committee on the draft Online Safety Bill brought forward a series of important recommendations. Some have been incorporated into the current legislation but the Government need to go further if reality is to match many years of rhetoric. Sadly, the numerous delays to this legislation have in the interim allowed tens of thousands of children to be exposed to online abuse and millions of internet users to fall victim to online scams. With most of the provisions unlikely to enter into force until 2024 or beyond, those numbers are likely to increase further, something on which I hope the new chair of Ofcom, the noble Lord, Lord Grade, will wish to take a view.
Elsewhere, the Government are insisting on selling off a national asset in the form of Channel 4, despite widespread opposition within the creative industries and on the government Benches in both Houses of Parliament. We can remind ourselves that Channel 4 was established under the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It does not cost the taxpayer a penny. Despite the claims by DCMS, it is already able to compete with the likes of Netflix. It has developed the UK’s most popular free streaming service and demand is likely to increase as paid-for services, such as Netflix, lose subscribers. The privatisation element of the media Bill will undoubtedly take up a significant amount of parliamentary time. If, as seems likely, the sale of Channel 4 leads to a lower volume of programmes being commissioned, the impact will be to level down the creative output and negatively affect jobs across the UK’s nations and regions.
A wide range of smaller Bills has also been promised by DCMS, from data reform to digital markets and I look forward to seeing further detail on them. The Culture Secretary’s fixation with Channel 4 means that other DCMS initiatives have had to be put on the back burner. An independent regulator for football will not be in place until 2024 at the earliest, as I have said, and we still wait to see the Government’s plans for the reform of gambling regulation. Once again, there are many consequences to this. It is likely that the Government’s inaction in these areas will mean that more football clubs, their fans and communities will suffer because of inadequate governance arrangements and ever more individuals, both children and adults, will be exposed to gambling-related harms.
On this latter point, we are in the middle of a perfect storm. The shift to online gambling, the increased cost of living and the continued financial impact of the pandemic have come together to create the conditions in which gambling harms to individuals and, by extension, to their loved ones unfortunately continue to thrive. I note that in 2020 the Government launched a welcome review of the Gambling Act, acknowledging, correctly, that too many people are experiencing significant harm from gambling while the industry has changed enormously since the passing of the Act in 2005, yet today we find that we continue to wait for something to be done while people’s health and well-being are damaged, when we know that more could be done to tackle avoidable harms. An overwhelming majority of the public want action on sports governance and gambling while opposing government intervention in the affairs of Channel 4. In that sense, how can the Government possibly say that they are focusing on the priorities of the British people?
I know that your Lordships’ House will do its very best, as it always does, to improve the Bills before it through scrutiny. That starts with this debate, which began yesterday and continues today. I look forward to hearing from noble Lords. However, this gracious Speech is notable not just for what is in it but more so for what is not. The Government had an opportunity through this gracious Speech to give people what they need to manage their day-to-day lives and to thrive. I am sorry, but this opportunity has not been taken.
As we have heard, there is to be a media Bill. I start by thanking the Government for commitments to important reforms on prominence and listed events, but swiftly move to gloom at their attitude to public service broadcasting in general. The headline of the Queen’s Speech is levelling up, so why are the Government determined to privatise Channel 4, the consequence of which, as the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, just said, will be levelling down?
There is nothing short of vandalism going on in removing the publisher broadcaster model. Channel 4 was conceived for a reason, to grow the UK independent TV sector, and that is exactly what it has done. Any impact assessment—has there been one?—would surely show that reducing commissions from independent companies from 100% to 25% will have a detrimental effect on the sector and, more specifically, on nurturing the small, independent producers and start-ups: levelling down.
Removing the requirement that a new owner operates offices outside London, the Government
“does not deem it appropriate to be prescriptive on … physical footprint”,
yet the same Government insisted that Channel 4 relocate its headquarters to Leeds and creative hubs to Bristol and Glasgow, which has brought huge advantages to those and surrounding areas: levelling down. Reducing the required spend in nations and regions from 50% to 35% will lead to a potential loss of £85 million to those very areas that the Secretary of State purports to want to help.
On removing the requirements in relation to training and skills, Channel 4 has used both its cash and its leverage power to invest in and promote training, particularly of underrepresented groups. With no obligations and a new commitment to shareholders, does the Minister really see this continuing? It is levelling down again.
Contrary to what the White Paper claims, due to the imaginative expansion of its digital channels, Channel 4’s demographic is young and diverse. Its figures show significant spend on original content and investment in indies. Advertising revenues have increased over the last two years. I hope the Minister accepts that the figures in the government paper need looking at again.
The big question is: why? The public do not want it. When the question of privatisation was put out to public consultation, 91% of respondents were opposed. Can the Minister explain the logic behind having a public consultation and then ignoring it? Is it not an insult to dismiss those who took part as campaign bots, when 91% certainly cannot have been?
As the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, mentioned, the Government say they want to protect Channel 4 from the streamers, but the fact is that it does not need protection. It is in rude financial health and does not need privatisation to prosper, while supposedly thriving Netflix faces financial woes, with a loss of 200,000 subscribers over the last three months. As the former chief executive, David Abraham, has said, privatising Channel 4 is
“a solution in search of a problem.”
Channel 4 is just a part of a broader PSB ecology that lies at the heart of this country’s extraordinary success in exporting programmes around the world, creating jobs in the creative industries across the UK and bringing UK influence to bear across the world—soft power. At the centre of this is the BBC, yet in its centenary year, after it contributed so much during the pandemic and is now doing so again through superb coverage of the war in Ukraine, this Government have chosen to freeze the licence fee, effectively depriving the BBC of more than £3 billion over the next five years. The Government are putting their determination to weaken the BBC before the national interest.
Turning to the wider cultural sector, I have heard the Secretary of State, in person, passionately and articulately expressing her belief in the need to level up through the spreading of the arts, culture and creativity, and all the benefits they bring, more evenly across the nation. So please listen to the regions and get this right. Do not employ a blunt instrument and destroy an admirable aim.
Here is an example. I declare an interest as a trustee of the Lowry in Salford, one of the 18 most deprived areas in England. For us, the Royal National Theatre is a crucial partner. Its commitment to touring, and the Lowry’s role as its home venue in the north-west, have meant that audiences in that region have been able to experience some of the most celebrated theatre productions of the last 20 years. Is it not obvious that if funding for the NT is cut by 15%, it will inevitably entrench into its London base and reduce its touring commitments, and the regions will suffer? Encouraging locally produced work to flourish must be coupled with sharing what the rest of the nation has to offer. I think there is a misunderstanding of where deprivation exists. Large pockets are in London, whose cultural institutions have important outreach programmes.
The White Paper talks about a narrow skills base and how levelling up can address this, but the acquiring of a skill begins at school and successive Conservative Governments consistently and persistently undervalue and undermine arts education. STEM has been the mantra, but surely for education to
“help every child fulfil their potential”,
as mentioned in the Queen’s Speech, it should be STEAM. This Government say that arts subjects are not strategic priorities. The same Government’s industrial strategy prizes the creative industries as a priority sector. Can the Minister explain the disconnect?
Finally, the UK’s creative and cultural workforce still does not adequately reflect the diversity of the UK population. I hope that the Minister will pay attention to the report Creative Majority and that part of the levelling-up support, in particular the £560 million for youth services, will be available for cultural and creative activities.
To end, I say a big yes to levelling up but listen to the regions as to what they really need. When the Government say, as in the White Paper, that:
“Broadcasters and the wider media have significant potential to contribute”,
they should recognise that this will not happen if they employ a wrecking ball to our PSBs. Listen to the words of Steve McQueen, possibly our greatest creative industry, at the BAFTAs last Sunday:
“We have great ideas … Other people have … more money — the Americans — but we have great ideas, that’s what makes us who we are … we need the BBC and Channel 4 to help sustain that and our identity – because I don’t want us to be, no disrespect, Yanks”.
By the way, I am half Yank and I will accept no disrespect.
As I say, the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, will no doubt discuss his committee’s report, but we have a response from the Minister. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee returns to the issue of the growing imbalance between Parliament and the Executive and, with commendable reticence, it notes that in the Government’s response almost all of its recommendations were rejected. I bothered to read the Government’s responses and I respectfully suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, that the words that his committee used in response were very modest; I would say that it looked like hitting your head against a brick wall. There was no understanding or insight whatever into these major issues that the two committees have raised.
In the Conservative manifesto there was a promise that there would be a first-year commission on the constitution, democracy and rights. Where is it? Why are we not addressing the issue of this imbalance now in such a commission?
I am now about to be very courageous, particularly with the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, here: what is the point of us being here if, when we identify a serious constitutional problem, we never do anything about it except talk? We cannot keep doing that. I just want us to consider the possibility that the next time we have a Henry VIII clause in a Bill that has not been given careful explanation in advance, we chuck it out.
In light of that, unsurprisingly, I will continue to say that sending to prison mothers whose non-violent offending is rooted in multiple disadvantages is failing communities and haemorrhaging money, with at least 500 new prison places for women, if they are planned to be additional. That now rather jaded female offender strategy could still do much good to prevent women entering the criminal justice system, yet it is stuck.
The recent Public Accounts Committee recent report has revealed the gaps in governance and funding. Where is intervention reflected in the Government’s plans? Upstream of men, women and children in custody, there is often a story of being impacted by the criminal justice system, of repeated family history and trauma. Perpetrators of crime are often victims of crime themselves who have experienced multiple disadvantages. Here we see the effects of the failure to level up.
I was encouraged to see in last year’s prisons White Paper a recognition that families and good relationships are important aspects of rehabilitation and contribute to reducing reoffending. Where is the join-up with the context of the gracious Speech? I am pleased to hear that the provision of better-quality, safer homes is to be a focus for the Government. We know that the lack of appropriate housing is a driver for reoffending, and that female prison leavers face particular challenges. The reports and solutions are there; they just need willingness and drive for their implementation.
All of this is not simply about money. It is about how policies and structures enable strong human relationships. Connected and resilient communities in which people can build trust and fulfil their potential begin with relationships. Incidentally, that is usually at the heart of civil society, including the active involvement of churches and faith communities. Civil society needs to be integral to decision-making, government partnership and delivery.
Speaking of relationship and community, there is much that can be done in policy and legislation to enable people to inhabit healthier and safer views of themselves and neighbours. At this point, I will briefly say that I am pleased to see the inclusion of a modern slavery Bill. Assisting people in inhabiting healthier and safer views of themselves and others is particularly pertinent to the online safety Bill. Upstream from many mental health issues and eating disorders experienced by adolescents and adults is undue pressure online and in social media. User control of algorithms, minimum age limits on editing apps and tackling altered images in advertising would go a long way towards addressing body-image anxiety, and I hope that will be considered in the online safety Bill as well as regulation of those horrific suicide forums.
A levelling-up process must look upstream from the issues that we wish to address and the measures that could be taken now to prevent the problems downstream and to enable the flourishing of individuals, families and communities. I look forward to listening to the rest of this debate.
In recent times, the whole scope of this problem has been brought into relief by people asking: does it apply to a change of gender? I do not know the answer to that question because it is not me putting this forward, but it really is quite a question. There are other questions about it too. There was a big consultation and I took quite a lot of time to set out what I thought about it. I do not know that we have heard yet exactly what has been decided as a result, but it is certainly a tricky problem that those three words are supposed to expose.
There will be many other problems apart from that, and I would love to have time to get involved in them. The idea of moving the responsibility from the court to somebody else is always somewhat difficult. I agree that the courts may sometimes have the power to impose responsibility for expenditure on the taxpayer but, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, points out so clearly, if that is thought to be wrong the legislature can correct it quickly. It has a powerful correction mechanism for any such variation.
I put in a fairly detailed answer to the consultation on the Human Rights Act and, on the whole, I do not think it is moving very much. It is rather less in scope than your Lordships might think. However, my scope is finished, so I thank your Lordships for listening.
Big Brother Watch points out that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become de facto arbiters of speech online, making judgments about the permissibility of citizens’ speech without due process—and not only citizens but politicians of the highest office too.
The Government’s proposal to remove offensive material is of course reinforcing the companies’ powers and inclination to impose west coast norms on us and impede or ban perfectly legitimate debate. The risk here is that to meet the regulator’s requirements on the “legal but harmful” provisions, and under threat of looming penalties, those tech companies will be quicker than ever to enforce censorious policies, with freedom of expression the victim and algorithms the final arbiter.
The Government argue that protections have been built into the Bill to give greater clarity about what harmful content is covered. Specifically, platforms will have to explain why they have removed content, with duties to protect journalistic and democratically important content. They also claim to have removed any incentives or pressures for platforms to over-remove legal or controversial content.
I draw Ministers’ attention to analysis by Gavin Millar QC for Index on Censorship, which argues that, despite almost seven years of debate, there is still significant uncertainty about how the Bill will work in practice. As he said:
“The Government is still not able to define terms at the heart of the legislation such as ‘legal but harmful’ or give … technology companies … clear guidance on how this landmark legislation should operate.”
In summary, he found:
“Harmful speech has no legal basis and risks restrictions on speech that are too broad and therefore open to abuse through selective enforcement.”
The Minister’s department has rejected that analysis out of hand. Could the Minister explain why? What is his response to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, on the sweeping powers being taken by the Executive in recent legislation, of which this Bill is an example?
Can the Minister also comment on the advice of Professor Kathleen Stock, a former professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex? She has been subject to considerable abuse online because of her views about biology and the importance of women’s rights and might have been expected to be emphatically in favour of attempts to remove what the Online Safety Bill calls “harmful communications” from the internet. Referring to the power of the safety service providers, however, she warns:
“If their recent behaviour proves anything, it’s that these online giants don’t need another reason to crack down on content they think will distress certain groups of people. After all, they are already doing this, albeit in a way which reflects the priorities of Silicon Valley technocrats”.
One example of this is Twitter’s own policy, which does not accept that it is bound by the Equality Act in this country. Will that be put right in the Bill?
The Bill hands huge powers to the Secretary of State through statutory instruments and codes of practice. It is unacceptable that the House should be asked to pass the Bill without knowing many more facets of what is included, and I hope it is subject to the kind of scrutiny that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, requires.