Orders of the Day — Video Recordings Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:24 am on 11 November 1983.

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Photo of Mr John Powley Mr John Powley , Norwich South 11:24, 11 November 1983

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to catch your eye and to make my maiden speech. This is the first time that I have caught your eye, but I hope that it will not be the last. I remember the feeling that I had when I first spoke in the council chamber in Cambridge in 1967. That feeling is with me again, as I am sure that the House will understand.

My constituency has had a varied pattern of representation for some time. Until 1950, the city of Norwich had two seats in Parliament and the last two representatives under the pattern were Lady Noel-Buxton and Mr. J. Paton, both from the Labour party. In 1950, Norwich was split into north and south and the first hon. Member for Norwich, South in 1950 was the Conservative Mr. H. G. Strauss, who became Lord Conesford in 1955.

Mr. Strauss was succeeded in 1955 by another Conservative who, while representing Norwich, South, served on the Government Front Bench and in the Cabinet. After he was defeated in 1964, he became my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hexham (Mr. Rippon) and he is still a distinguished Member.

In 1964, Chris Norwood was elected and he represented Norwich, South for Labour until 1970. Chris Norwood tragically died two years later. My good friend Tom Stuttaford—Dr. Tom, as he was affectionately known to his constituents; Norwich's answer, some might say, to Dr. Kildare—was elected in 1970 to represent Norwich, South, which he did with distinction until he was replaced by my immediate predecessor, Mr. John Garrett, in 1974.

John Garrett served the House and his constituency with great diligence and I am sure that he will be missed by many. He was PPS to the Minister for Social Security, Opposition Front Bench spokesman on Treasury and economic affairs from May 1979 to December 1980 and Opposition Front Bench spokesman on industry from December 1980 until the dissolution of Parliament this year. He will be missed by the Labour party and I thank him for his contribution to the House and to Norwich.

The 18 wards making up the city of Norwich were divided more or less across the middle, with the two constituencies being made up of eight wards each. With the reorganisation of constituencies prior to the election this year, Norwich, South gained three wards from Norwich, North, so it would be appropriate for me to add my tribute to that already paid by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Mr. Thompson) to David Ennals, now Lord Ennals of Norwich. His contribution to public life is well known and I thank him, too, for his work for Norwich and the House.

The signs by the roadside approaching Norwich say, "Norwich— a fine city." And so it is. A city of two cathedrals, two television studios and a first division football team, it has been the capital of East Anglia throughout the thousand years that that name has been around. It is mentioned in the Domesday book, which records that the citizens of Norwich sent £20 annually to King Edward the Confessor, along with six jars of honey, one bear and six dogs for baiting. The animal welfare lobby would have had nightmares had it known.

Present-day Norwich has a wide variety of industry, commerce and retailing. It is not dependent on any one industry for its prosperity, which is largely a result of that wide variety. Industries that once prospered in Norwich have been replaced by new ones, reflecting the changing pattern of life. The shoe industry is important to the health of Norwich—and to the health of everybody; I assume that most hon. Members wear shoes — and the shoe factories that still operate there report a bright future. Colmans, Rowntree Mackintosh, Laurence Scott and the Norwich Union all employ reasonable numbers of people but the town is not wholly dependent on any one of them.

What do I want for Norwich? I want better communications between Norwich and London and Norwich and the Midlands. The rail network to the city from London is being electrified and I welcome Government investment in that, but the road network leaves much to be desired. The A11, though being improved in certain places, is still not good once one leaves the M11 coming from London. The east to west link with the Midlands is poor and needs a substantial capital investment to improve matters.

I want to see a substantial improvement in the percentage of owner-occupation in the city of Norwich. I have previously said publicly: Norwich would be a much finer city than it is if the percentage of owner-occupation went up from the paltry 35·5 per cent. that it is, with 50·4 per cent. of dwellings council-owned, to the national average of 57·8 per cent. owner occupation and a corresponding reduction in the number of dwellings owned by the local authority. Norwich city council has always dragged its feet when selling council homes. It now has a Member of Parliament who is prepared to give it a good kick up the backside if it does not improve matters.

In my private capacity I am managing director of a small company—John Powley (Radio and TV) Ltd. — with one shop in Cambridge; not, as described in Private Eye last week, owning a successful chain of electrical and TV rental emporia. Hon. Members will be aware of the gross exaggeration in most things that Private Eye does.

In the shop that I have run for over 23 years we have taken part in the video revolution. We now sell or rent video cassette recorders and we sell blank recording tapes. I hasten to add that we do not sell or rent—nor have we ever sold or rented—pre-recorded tape. Being in the business has given me an advantage over many hon. Members which I would hope to use if I were appointed to the Committee that will examine the Bill.

Video cassette recorders — VCRs — were first developed in Britain in 1974 and their growth in the first three or four years was modest; about 20,000 machines were sold or rented between 1974 and early 1979. The year 1979–80 saw the introduction of several reliable systems of recording and playback machines and in that year about 100,000 machines were sold or rented, compared with only 20,000 in the previous four years. Market growth slowed a little in 1980–81, to 80,000 machines, but 1981–82 saw a 12-fold increase in the number of machines sold or rented and the number that year was about 970,000. There was more than a doubling of the numbers in 1982–83, to about 2·1 million machines sold or rented, and so far this year about 1 million machines have gone on to the market.

Added together, about 4·5 million machines are today in use in homes in this country. They are used by anyone and everyone and every level of social grouping uses video cassette recorders. This is not a wealthy person's plaything VCRs can be bought for as little as £289, with a variety of credit terms available, and rented for as little as £12 or £13 a month.

The machines are the hardware. The Bill relates to the software, the tapes, that are played on the machines. Pre-recorded tapes are now available in electrical shops like mine — although we do not sell or rent them — in garages, hardware shops and superstores. The police in Norwich estimate that there are about 50 outlets for pre-recorded tapes in the city. They are available for hire seven days a week and most hours of each day. Pre-recorded tapes vary in price; if one buys them, from £20 to £40 each, but there is a large market in hiring tapes and prices run from as little as £1 a night.

I am a member of the Radio, Electrical and Television Retailers Association. That body, representing a large number of retailers, gives general support to an appropriate form of control being exercised over pre-recorded tapes to overcome the problem of what are called video nasties. Many bona fide dealers whom I know would welcome clear guidance on the subject.

I hope that the figures I have given to the House show that the machines are freely and widely available, and that pre-recorded tapes are easily obtained and that both machines and tapes are available to everyone. I regard it as a healthy sign of a relatively prosperous country that such luxuries should be in the possession of all sections of society. It will not be long before videos are fitted in cars for passengers, not drivers, to view while journeying. They are already available in buses and aeroplanes.

If hon. Members accept that what I have said is an accurate assessment of the availability of both hardware and software—and the tapes are the software—we must logically look at what software, pre-recorded tapes, is available in the light of an unrestricted market available to all and sundry. How many hon. Members really know what is on the market—what lurid titles are available to an unrestricted market? In the course of my business I receive a number of catalogues and advertisements for pre-recorded tapes, and the list is almost endless. I had intended to read some of it out, but in view of your injunction to us to be brief, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will not do so. Some are good quality, well-acted and suitable for a wide audience. Others leave much to be desired.

A number of problems remain to be tackled. There is the problem of supervision, of censorship and the risk of driving video nasties underground, so creating another problem. Where does pornography, soft and hard, figure in the classification of video films? Those and other questions will have to be considered.

I do not like unnecessary rules and regulations. I believe that within reason people should be allowed to decide for themselves what is best. But in deciding for themselves, people must exercise a degree of responsibility. It is when that freedom that I wart to have is not exercised with a degree of responsibility that I become concerned, and it is clear that some video film makers and some distributors will do anything to make a quick pound or two—