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Communications Bill - Peers line up for a show-down
134/Barry White
‘They (Tessa Jowell and Kim Howells) give the impression that we are just a rubber stamp. They are going to be wrong.’
Lord Tom McNally speaking in the Lords debate on the committee stage of the Communications Bill
6 May 2003.There is the whiff of rebellion in the air from the ‘part reformed’ House of Lords. After just two committee sittings (on 29 April and 6 May) the rumblings are getting louder. Fed up with behind the scenes carping about the activities of Lord Puttnam and the other members of the scrutiny committee who have tabled 70 amendments to the bill.. Speaking during the debate on 6 May he hit back: ‘I should like to make it very clear that the reason 70 amendments have been put forward is because, as a joint scrutiny committee, we were wholly dissatisfied with the responses which we received from the Government to our report.’
He has been joined by other peers who are very unhappy with the way the Government has responded to amendments put down on the bill. Lord Fowler criticised the process during the debate, saying that it was bad enough that the bill arrived in the Lords with over 100 of the 400 or so clauses not having been discussed in the Commons.
Ray Snoddy, media editor of The Times, (12 May) revealed that Lord Puttnam had issued a stark ultimatum to Government: drop plans to allow foreign ownership of ITV or face defeat in the Lords that could kill almost three years of policymaking. ‘If there is no movement by the Government, I can absolutely promise there will a vote and they could lose that vote,’ Lord Puttnam said. ‘If they want their bill, they are going to have to have it without foreign ownership’. A number of peers including Lords Puttnam, Alli, McNally, Bragg and Hussey are also against provisions which would also allow Channel 5 to fall into the hands of Murdoch or another US group.
The Government wants the bill ‘done and dusted’ by the time parliament rises for the summer recess. If they fail, it could be carried over into the early autumn before the new parliament meets after the Queen’s Speech. However, that would be an embarrassment to New Labour who have set much by this deregulatory measure.
If the Lords do reject the foreign ownership clauses (and others) the focus will return to the Commons (probably in June) where 128 MPs signed John Grogan’s early day motion 260 which expressed concern about these provisions. It will be then that we need to put the pressure on MP’s to stand up to the power of the global media corporations and their ‘apologists’ on the Government front bench.
Last modified: Sunday, June 15, 2003
Previous government policy stories
Submission to the Government Communications Review Group by Nicholas Jones
Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom: submission to Government Communications Review Group.
The VLV 20th spring conference: 'The Communications Bill: Content or Commerce - which matters most?'
TUC Briefing on Comms Bill
Public Voice briefings on the Comms Bill
The Re-Regulation of Broadcasting, or The Mill Owners' Triumph
Communications Bill receives third reading.
Tessa Jowell speaks!
The Standing Committee on the Communications Bill
Parliament debates Comms Bill
The Communications Bill: some key areas of concern and suggested amendments
Unions ready for joint action on Communications Bill
Communications Bill 'threatens Scottish production' MSPs warned
IT IS STILL A BAD BILL
COMMUNICATIONS BILL WILL MAKE BRITAIN ‘A US SATELLITE’ WARNS CPBF
Government Responds to Puttnam Committee
CPBF sets up steering group to focus on the Communications Bill
Special Communications Policy Briefing: DCMS Secretary Tessa Jowell to address the Westminster Media Forum the day after
the Queen's Speech.
Why the Communications Bill is bad news
CPBF NEWS
Action Alert
Puttnam's shot across the bows
CPBF Response to Draft Communications Bill
New CPBF Pamphlet on the Communications Bill
WHY THE COMMUNICATIONS BILL IS BAD NEWS
Submission to the DCMS/DTI consultation on the draft Communications Bill
Update on the Communications Bill
CPBF attacks 'government arrogance' over Puttnam Report
The Puttnam Report: 'Making a good bill better'
Robert McChesney's 'Theses on Media Deregulation'
Communications Freedom and the Internet
Submission to the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Bill by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Government Policy
Submission to the Government Communications Review Group by Nicholas Jones
Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom: submission to Government Communications Review Group.
The VLV 20th spring conference: 'The Communications Bill: Content or Commerce - which matters most?'
TUC Briefing on Comms Bill
Public Voice briefings on the Comms Bill
The Re-Regulation of Broadcasting, or The Mill Owners' Triumph
Communications Bill receives third reading.
Tessa Jowell speaks!
The Standing Committee on the Communications Bill
Parliament debates Comms Bill
The Communications Bill: some key areas of concern and suggested amendments
Unions ready for joint action on Communications Bill
Communications Bill 'threatens Scottish production' MSPs warned
IT IS STILL A BAD BILL
COMMUNICATIONS BILL WILL MAKE BRITAIN ‘A US SATELLITE’ WARNS CPBF
Government Responds to Puttnam Committee
CPBF sets up steering group to focus on the Communications Bill
Special Communications Policy Briefing: DCMS Secretary Tessa Jowell to address the Westminster Media Forum the day after
the Queen's Speech.
Why the Communications Bill is bad news
CPBF NEWS
Action Alert
Puttnam's shot across the bows
CPBF Response to Draft Communications Bill
New CPBF Pamphlet on the Communications Bill
WHY THE COMMUNICATIONS BILL IS BAD NEWS
Submission to the DCMS/DTI consultation on the draft Communications Bill
Update on the Communications Bill
CPBF attacks 'government arrogance' over Puttnam Report
The Puttnam Report: 'Making a good bill better'
Robert McChesney's 'Theses on Media Deregulation'
Communications Freedom and the Internet
Submission to the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Bill by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
