HL Deb 23 October 1984 vol 456 cc132-4

2.53 p.m.

Lord Airedale

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they believe that pictures on television and in newspapers of victims of bomb attacks being extricated from rubble amount to an unwarrantable invasion into privacy and ought not to be permitted.

Lord Elton

My Lords, the Government believe that even in this sensitive area editorial decisions must in the first instance be a matter for the broadcasters and the press themselves, though they can be reviewed by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission and the Press Council in the light of complaints from those who believe that their privacy has been unwarrantably infringed.

Lord Airedale

My Lords, I am obliged for that Answer, but are there not intensities of pain, distress and suffering which are such that one has to say, "This person on this occasion must be allowed to suffer in private and not under the public gaze"? Can we really trust the whole of the media always to respect this right to privacy?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the press and the broadcasters have a clear responsibility to take account of the reasonable susceptibilities of the public, of the dignity and privacy of those who are the victims of this type of outrage and of the need to convey the horror of what has happened. The BBC, the IBA and the Press Council have their own guidelines on the portrayal of violence and suffering. I would hope that reporters and photographers would do unto those whom they observe as they would wish them to do unto them.

Lord Mishcon

My Lords, is it not a fact that standards of good taste at editorial level, whether it be in the national press or on television or radio, have to many of us dropped considerably? Is it not the hope of all of us that those standards will be looked at by the persons concerned?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the advantage of having the bodies to which I have referred is that they can be aware of the expression of opinion which your Lordships so powerfully make.

Lord Peyton of Yeovil

My Lords, would my noble friend agree that those responsible for the particularly intrusive medium of television frequently give the impression that they are more concerned to excite and to entertain than they are to show regard for the individual, no matter how painful the circumstances?

Lord Elton

My Lords, in this delicate area there are established bodies which are in position in order to oversee these matters, and it is not for the Government to make pronouncements on them.

Lord Somers

My Lords, while I sympathise with the noble Lord's Question, would the noble Lord, Lord Elton, agree that in this particular case it was perhaps necessary to bring home to the public the true horror of the situation in order that it should be taken seriously?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the noble Lord is right that there is a balance to be struck here. The privacy of the individual and standards of good taste must at all times be considered. But the nation itself needs to see the degree of horror of some of the deeds committed against it. That is the only qualification that I would put on what I said previously.

Lord Campbell of Alloway

My Lords, I should like to ask my noble friend the Minister whether Her Majesty's Government have any plans to put the Press Council on a proper statutory basis, because in many quarters there is much dissatisfaction as to the way in which it has worked over the past five or 10 years.

Lord Elton

My Lords, your Lordships have turned your attention to the Press Council on a number of occasions in the last few years. At present I am not aware of any intention to revise the situation.

Lord Broxbourne

My Lords, my noble friend has referred to guidelines. While these may be very useful and persuasive in their way, is there not a case for them being reinforced with something a little more realistic and substantial in the form of sanctions? Will the Government give consideration to the possibility of a review of that position?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the Press Council is not a statutory body and it does not have sanctions available to it in the same sense as the other two bodies have, which can require publication of their findings. As to guidelines, I am certain that it will be aware of what has been said today because I shall ensure that copies of your Lordships' proceedings are sent to the council,

and it will be able to consider those in conjunction with its guidelines.

Lord Hunt

My Lords, does the Minister agree that it would be no bad thing if the Press Council and the Broadcasting Complaints Council gave a clear definition of what is proper in the public interest and what may be of interest to the inquisitive instincts and inclinations of certain members of the public which are pandered to in order to sell newspapers and to make people turn on their television sets?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the difficulty as I see it is that whereas all of us, when we see something in print or on the screen, have a clear view as to its moral position—whether or not it is intrusive or offensive—it is very difficult to put that into cold print. I suspect that what your Lordships are in fact in part saying is that you do not agree with the interpretation of the guidelines.

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