§ 8. Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will initiate an inquiry into the effects of the portrayal of violence in films and on television upon young persons.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsNo, Sir. I appreciate the hon. Member's concern about this matter, but I do not think that such an inquiry would be profitable.
§ Mr. McNair-WilsonDoes the Minister agree that the working party set up by the Independent Television Authority in 1972 came to a firm conclusion that there was a connection between violence on television and the harmful effects it was likely to have on young people? Does he also agree that even if the effect is not immediate, it is likely to reinforce aggresive tendencies? Is there not an unanswerable case for the television of broadcasting authorities to be asked to set up their own inquiry, and for the Home Office to do likewise?
§ Mr. JenkinsIt is a mistake to assume that a fresh inquiry is always the answer to every difficult problem. I fully agree that this is a difficult problem. The hon. Gentleman referred to what is now 1599 the Independent Broadcasting Authority. He will have noted that at her opening Press conference the new chairman expressed strong views about her abhorrence of violence in this context. No doubt the companies will take note of that. I do not minimise the problem. It comes within the purview of the Annan Committee. However, the fact that I am not willing to set up a separate inquiry does not mean that I dismiss the problem. It means that I am a little sceptical about whether a multiplicity of inquiries in overlapping fields is the answer to the many problems with which we are confronted.
§ Mr. AshleyA standard argument used by those who defend excessive violence on television is that it has no effect on young people. Yet I should like to ask how it can be proved that violence has no effect if no research is being carried out? Until my right hon. Friend institutes a proper, thorough going inquiry, no one knows the effect of violence. I suggest that there is far too much gratuitous violence on films and television, and that it is up to my right hon. Friend to see that it is either stopped or that a proper, thoroughgoing inquiry is instituted.
§ Mr. JenkinsI agree that violence can have a damaging effect. I also agree that in the absence of proper research it is difficult, indeed impossible, to prove that it does not have a deleterious effect. I am not absolutely certain that even with research we can prove anything very clearly. I have had brought to my notice an American report which was made about 10 years ago after considerable research. It came to the following conclusion: