§ Q1. Mr. Winnickasked the Prime Minister if he will propose the establishment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the problems of the daily national newspapers.
§ Q7. Mr. Arthur Davidsonasked the Prime Minister whether he will set up an inquiry to look into the state of the newspaper industry.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)I have nothing to add to my reply to similar Questions by the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) and my hon. Friends the Members for Croydon, South (Mr. Winnick) and Billericay (Mr. Moonman) on 17th July.
§ Mr. WinnickIs the Prime Minister aware that there still remains a good deal of justified anxiety about the future of the national daily newspapers? Would he not agree that, whatever may be the problems of the newspapers, such problems should not be solved—as indeed they are not solved by most newspapers —by the re-publication of old, stale scandals, aimed at boosting circulation, which cause a great deal of injury to those who are now private citizens?
§ The Prime MinisterWhat is published in the Press must be the responsibility of the Press itself to decide. If my hon. 826 Friend is referring to the case which I believe he has in mind, it has been the subject of a reference to the Press Council and a statement by it. It is not for the Government or the House to attempt to form a view on that matter. On the question of anxiety about the future of individual newspapers and the economics of the industry, my hon. Friend will recall that two or three years ago, when the Economist Intelligence Report was published, my right hon. Friend the then President of the Board of Trade and I said that if the newspapers wished to approach the Government on any of these matters, we should consider anything they had to say. They have not done so.
§ Mr. DavidsonWould the Prime Minister consider setting up an inquiry into the limited question of the role of the Press Council, with a view to establishing whether that much-respected body should be given a little more authority to deal with the very small minority of newspapers which depart from the standards laid down by the Council?
§ The Prime MinisterThese matters have been debated in the House on a number of occasions. The Press Council was set up several years ago by the newspaper industry, following the Report of the Royal Commission, and it acts with the authority of the Press as a whole. I am not sure that, at any rate at this time, the House would be right to enter into any further consideration of the role of the Press Council. Therefore, I do not believe that it would be right to have an inquiry.
§ Mr. HeathWill the Prime Minister repeat his condemnation, in a speech in January, 1967, that unofficial unconstitutional strike action is blackmailing the newspaper industry?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I said that in the speech to which the right hon. Gentleman referred. This has been a continuing problem. The right hon. Gentleman knows that my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State and her Department recently have been giving a great deal of help in relation to productivity agreements in the newspaper industry, and there have been some significant agreements. In view of his great interest in this problem, he will no doubt have read the leading article in 827 the Daily Express which gave high praise to Mr. Feather on his solution of a difficult problem in the newspaper industry.