§ 5. Mr. Dodsworthasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the progress in formulating the press charter.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI have nothing to add at this stage to what I told the House on 4th July.
§ Mr. DodsworthDoes the Minister accept that it is a matter of very grave regret and concern to a wide range of people that there is no positive expression of opinion from the Government on the particularly urgent matter of the need to protect the right to supply information by journalists and editors on matters such as trade union affairs, immigration practice and policies and, indeed, on the affairs of Southern Africa? All these matters are in urgent need of clarification to ensure that journalists can put forward a clear point of view without sanctions being applied against them.
§ Mr. WalkerI am not sure whether I or the House will have followed that supplementary question. If the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that the press and the newspapers should be free from improper pressures to distort news, I wholly agree with him. That is one of the obligations which will be laid by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Act 1976 on my right hon. Friend when he prepares and lays the charter before the House.
§ Mr. Ron ThomasDoes not the Minister agree that the real threat to press freedom comes from the fact that more and more newspapers are owned by a small group of powerful individuals and that it is really a nonsense to link press freedom with the legitimate rights of a trade union to sign a union membership agreement?
§ Mr. WalkerIt would be unwise for me to try to anticipate the contents of the proposed charter that my right hon. Friend will lay before the House, but I think that it is important to safeguard the freedom of the press from improper pressure from any quarter whatsoever.