HC Deb 04 February 1937 vol 319 cc1752-3
26. Sir Assheton Pownall

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware of two further recent cases of persecution by members of the Press; that in one case the coroner commented on a Press photographer's disregard of the decencies of the case and in the other the coroner censured members of the Press for behaving callously to a young girl whose fiancé had been found gassed; and whether he will take further steps to compel the Newspaper Proprietors' Association to stop the suffering caused by these intrusions by their representatives?

34. Sir Percy Hurd

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to a case in the St. Pancras coroner's court last Friday when it appeared that a journalist and a Press photographer obtained admission to St. Mary's Hospital, Islington, and the coroner commented on their scant regard for decencies in their treatment of a dying patient; also to a case when the North Dorset coroner last week censured Press representatives for having treated a young girl callously after the suicide of her fiancé in order to make a sensational story for their papers; and whether, seeing the recurrence of such cases, the Government will give facilities for the passage of the Journalists (Registration) Bill, now before the House, whereby such conduct would come under disciplinary review by a body representative of all branches of the journalistic profession?

Sir J. Simon

As I indicated in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for South Kensington (Sir W. Davison) last week, I am in communication with the Newspaper Proprietors' Association and the Newspaper Society on the whole subject, and I am sending those bodies these further instances of complaint.

Sir A. Pownall

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will not in this and similar cases of this sort communicate with the coroners concerned and find out which of the Press agencies or journals are continuing activities of this sort, with a view to communicating if necessary with the editors of the papers concerned?

Sir J. Simon

I think I am right in saying that we did communicate with the coroner in one of these cases to confirm the facts, but I am not sure that we asked what the newspaper was, or whether the coroner would necessarily know. I think the subject is one of rather general importance and ought to be regarded as such.

Mr. Shinwell

As the universal opinion in this House seems to be disregarded by the newspapers, could not the right hon. Gentleman take further and more drastic action in the matter?

Sir J. Simon

I think the right thing to do, having communicated with these two important bodies, is to await their full reply. As I have said, I am reminding them that other cases are now being quoted and am sending those cases to them for their further consideration.

Earl Winterton

Will my right hon. Friend communicate with the Newspaper Proprietors' Association and draw attention to the fact that there is such a rising indignation among those affected by these people who exploit human grief, that there is serious danger of a breach of the peace being created?

Lieut.-Commander Fletcher

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the journalists and photographers who are sent upon these tasks detest being sent upon them, and that the responsibility lies fairly and squarely upon the shoulders of the proprietors of the newspapers?

Mr. Storey

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind in considering this matter that the great bulk of the Press deplore these methods as much as anybody else, and will he, while bearing in mind that they would welcome steps to restrain the licence of a section of the Press, see that the liberty of the Press is safeguarded? Will he also bear in mind that the Bill referred to has not the support of the great majority of working journalists?