Communications Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:30 pm on 5 June 2003.

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Photo of Lord Judd Lord Judd Labour 5:30, 5 June 2003

I hesitate to intervene. I must apologise to the Committee because previous deliberations on the Bill have coincided with my responsibilities at the Council of Europe and Western European Union. But it is a Bill about which I feel very strongly indeed. I believe that the amendment comes to the centre of much public anxiety about the Bill and what is being proposed.

My noble friend Lord Puttnam, in speaking to his excellent amendment, talked about the experts who have spoken in the debate. Certainly, impressive experts with a great deal of experience have spoken in Committee. I cannot in any way claim to be an expert, but I can claim to be a person who cares about the quality of democracy. That quality of democracy depends upon the quality of information available to the electorate; the quality of commentary; and the quality of the stimulation of debate in society. The Bill deals directly and indirectly with all that.

As an ordinary layman, it seems that the danger of a concentration of power in the hands of wilful people with their own agendas is a threat to the quality of democracy. Therefore, I would say, "We cannot take this issue too seriously".

To my noble friend Lord Lipsey I would say only this: I have always had a high regard and a liking for him, because he is an utterly reasonable person. However, I think that he falls into a pit by his own reasonableness because he tempts himself to believe that he is dealing with other people who are equally reasonable and who do not in effect have ruthless agendas in which once an opening is made, that opening will be pursued through to a conclusion which may not at first be on the surface. But to pretend that that conclusion is not already in the minds of some of those people is—and I hope my noble friend will forgive me using the word, because I actually think it can be quite complimentary to some people in the cynical age in which we live—rather naive.

Therefore, I want to put on record, again stressing the fact that I am not an expert in any way, that I think this amendment is absolutely essential, and that unless the Government move their position very considerably, I hope it will be pursued to a vote on Report.