§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Minister for the Arts if he will exercise his powers under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to obtain and publish information on the number of local authorities which have banned News International newspapers from their public libraries; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuceThe information requested is not available and could not be obtained without disproportionate expense. However, I welcome the opportunity to make it clear that I deplore any attempt to ban particular books or newspapers for which there is a demand from public libraries, whatever the reason for such a ban. If a newspaper has been available in a public library, to meet the demands of users, then I can see no justification for ceasing to make it available in order to make a political or industrial point. I understand that the Library Association, the professional body for librarians, shares my concern at recent developments of this nature, as no doubt do many library users.