Press Complaints Commission (Hansard, 8 December 2003)

§ Lord Taverne
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will empower the Press Complaints Commission to impose heavy fines on newspapers which publish inaccurate stories and refuse to publish prompt and prominent corrections.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the Press Complaints Commission is an independent body. The Government have no control over it and, therefore, no powers to enable it to impose fines.

§ Lord Taverne
My Lords, is it not clear that the Press Complaints Commission as it is now constituted is a feeble body which fails to control the excesses of the press? One example, which unfortunately could be multiplied many times, was the recent lies concerning asylum seekers and the killing of swans and eating of donkeys. What alternative have the Government to offer that would deal effectively with newspapers which do not give a tinker's cuss about truth or accuracy in pursuing their own agenda, often causing considerable harm to people who are not in a position to defend themselves?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, as a citizen, the noble Lord, Lord Taverne, has every right to make complaints about the behaviour and accuracy of the press; he has the opportunity to do so through the Press Complaints Commission. As a former Minister, I know that he feels as I do now that the exposition, shall we say, of government policy in the newspapers is not always as complete, accurate and impartial as we might wish it to be. However, that is a very long way from saying that we should abandon the democratic principle of a free press in this country.

§ Lord Hughes of Woodside
My Lords, is it not the case that the ability to make a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission is restricted to those who are damaged by the reports? If an individual writes to the Press Complaints Commission, it can respond by saying, "No one has complained about that. As a member of the general public you have no locus. However, we may take a look at it". The commission then does nothing about it.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, there are other means of registering a complaint other than through the Press Complaints Commission. If someone has a genuine grievance against the press, they are able to write to the newspaper and to expect a response. In recent years, some of the more responsible newspapers have set up as a principle what is called the "readers' editor". Through that system even trivial errors are corrected, although some, such as readers of the Guardian, might think that that is done to excess. Those are matters for the newspapers and not ones on which the Government ought to have a view.

§ Lord Wakeham
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the difficulty arising from the noble Lord's suggestion is that, even if that were instituted—and I have some doubts about it—it would be a remedy only for the rich and the powerful and would do nothing for ordinary people?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, I was interested to read the recent report of the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. It stated that space ought to be made available for a regime that was "gently punitive"—that is, adjusting registration fees for the Press Complaints Commission—and "modestly compensatory". The problem is, as the noble Lord, Lord Wakeham, has just pointed out, that something which is "modestly compensatory" and causes no pain to a national newspaper could be desperately damaging financially to a small, local newspaper.

§ Lord McNally
My Lords, can I ask the Minister to comment on an area of the press where Ministers do have a direct responsibility? If the Daily Telegraph comes into play, will the Minister guarantee that the Government will ensure that any would-be purchaser goes through the most rigorous examination before ownership is allowed, to guarantee both probity and editorial independence?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, in that hypothetical situation, I am sure that the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will exercise her powers with due diligence.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, surely my noble friend Lord Wakeham has put his finger on what is wrong with the system. Any system which provides a remedy only for the rich and the powerful is absolutely useless to the general public and, indeed, for unnamed groups of people such as immigrants who do not have a voice. Does the Minister agree that what is needed is a body with a voluntary structure, not under government control, and which has rather more teeth? It would be able to shame those in error perhaps by compelling them to print their apologies in large type on the front page every time.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the way in which any error is to be corrected is of course a matter for the Press Complaints Commission. I understand that, from time to time, it does insist on a particular size and location of display of an apology or correction.