HC Deb 16 April 1970 vol 799 cc1558-60
15. Mr. Barnes

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Authority about violence on television.

27. Mr. St. John-Stevas

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the talks he has had with broadcasting officials about violence on television.

Mr. Callaghan

I had an exchange of views on this and related subjects with representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Independent Television Authority last month; I am hoping for a further discussion shortly.

Mr. Barnes

Will my right hon. Friend take care not to encourage some of the irrational prejudices which exist? Is it not equally possible to argue that for many people the spectacle of violence on television can have the effect of purging violent emotions? Cannot these matters safely be left to the broadcasting authorities?

Mr. Callaghan

This matter raises difficult issues. For every piece of evidence on one side I find an equal and opposite piece on the other. It is clear that far too little is known about the consequences of the portrayal of violence on television. As long as so little is known, and therefore no conclusions can be reached, and as long as there is great public concern about both the increase in violence and its portrayal on television, it is the duty of everybody to go very slowly in what they depict.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

If so, and if the Home Secretary wishes to achieve something other than a cover-up for the gaffes of his more permissive colleagues, should he not be proposing a programme of research into the effects of violence on television so that the question can finally be answered?

Mr. Callaghan

Yes, Sir. I hope that is one of the things to which discussions will lead. It is regrettable that after all these years more is not known about the consequences, although there has been a substantial programme of research, and a lot of money was set aside by the Independent Television Authority some time ago for the benefit of research by Leicester University.

The B.B.C. and the I.T.A. have perfectly reputable codes on the question of violence. I have read them carefully. If they were adhered to I do not think that there would be very much complaint from the public.

Mr. Strauss

Is it not generally accepted that it is highly undesirable that children and adolescents should get the impression that acts of violence are normal or acceptable in a civilised society? Does my right hon. Friend agree that the controllers of the B.B.C. and I.T.A. programmes apply their codes, that episodes of violence are kept to a low level, and that allegations to the contrary are exaggerated and unjustified?

Mr. Callaghan

I agree on the first part of my right hon. Friend's question.

On the second part, I am not so sure. There is a lot of public anxiety about the matter, and it is the duty of the authorities and of myself to take this into account. There is no desire to impose censorship. If hon. Members saw the codes, I am sure that they would accept that they were perfectly sensible codes of behaviour. It is important that they should be lived up to. I am discussing how they can be lived up to.