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Baroness Mobarik
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, as a member of the Media Freedom Coalition, to ensure the safety and security of journalists and media workers worldwide.
Baroness Mobarik (Con)
My Lords, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to raise the important and pressing issue of the safety and security of journalists and media workers worldwide. Of course, the UK is a member of the Media Freedom Coalition and has a sincere commitment in this regard, but around the world there are more and more examples which illustrate that we are collectively falling short.
We live in a world where anyone can potentially be a target for those whose political views may differ. Politicians can be sanctioned by hostile actors, and many colleagues in this House and the other place would testify to that. Charities are de-banked, businesspeople are falsely maligned and individuals are intimidated and silenced the world over by autocratic regimes, and even by so-called democratic allies, often with little between them in the way of tactics. That is the chilling reality of today’s world. So one can imagine the strength of character and courage required to be a journalist or media person in a conflict zone, striving to discover the real facts of the situation on the ground.
Brave men and women risking their lives for the truth should be both honoured and protected, for freedom of the press is not merely a democratic ideal but a cornerstone of democracy. It is a guardian of accountability, a check on power and often the only voice for communities in conflict and crisis that might otherwise go unheard. Yet, around the world, that voice is increasingly under threat. The 2024 World Press Freedom Index paints a stark picture. Journalists are being silenced at an alarming rate: they are harassed, intimidated, detained and even killed simply for doing their job.
The United Kingdom, a founding member of the Media Freedom Coalition, has both a moral duty and a strategic interest in defending global press freedom. We must not only continue to champion media freedom globally, but redouble our efforts, especially as autocratic regimes and armed actors increasingly view the press as an enemy rather than a custodian. Here, I offer just a few of the many examples shared with me by Internews Europe, an international NGO I am happy to support.
In Afghanistan, since the fall of Kabul, there has been an escalating wave of repression. Dozens of journalists have been arrested, tortured or forced into hiding by the Taliban. In 2021 alone, Internews evacuated and helped to resettle 62 journalists and media workers facing extreme risk. In Sudan, since civil war erupted in 2023, Sudanese journalists have faced harassment, detention and exile. Yet they offer the most vital of lifelines, for in times of conflict, access to accurate, timely information can mean the difference between life and death by helping people avoid danger or find safe passage.
In Myanmar, local journalists have been eternally enterprising, committed and resilient in their efforts to bring information to the people of Myanmar. Yet 35 were imprisoned in 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. With international media banned and internet shutdowns frequent, these individuals continue to do brave, risky and vital work, such as reporting on the recent earthquake.
The UK can make a meaningful impact in four key areas. First and foremost, there is diplomatic pressure, where we have some influence. The global media freedom initiative, launched with Canada, is commendable, but diplomacy must be matched with consequences. When Governments jail journalists or shut down media outlets, they must know that it comes at a price. Targeted sanctions and co-ordinated international condemnation must be tools we use more frequently. Will the Minister tell the House what specific diplomatic actions the UK has taken in the past 12 months against Governments known to be suppressing the media?
Secondly, there is giving direct aid where needed. Noble Lords will be aware that legal intimidation, dubbed “lawfare”, is now one of the most pervasive threats to media freedom. Journalists are being buried under lawsuits intended to drain their resources and silence their investigations. These strategic lawsuits against public participation—SLAPPs—affect all of society, but especially journalists. Anti-SLAPPs campaigners want a change in the legislation to stop such actions. A change in the law received backing from the previous Government but failed to make it through Parliament before the election last July.
Online harassment, especially against women journalists, is another growing front. Will the Minister explain what the Government are doing to expand support for legal defence, cyber protection and emergency relocation through the Global Media Defence Fund and what plans there are for revisiting the legislation that would have been introduced had there not been an election?
Thirdly, there must be a long-term investment in healthy information ecosystems because access to high-quality information for all citizens underpins our own and international development success. For organisations such as the BBC World Service, adequate, long-term, sustainable funding at the forthcoming spending review is critical to enable it to continue its crucial work.
Fourthly is the issue of accountability. More than 80% of journalist murders go unpunished. It is a statistic that should shake us to our core, but it seems these days to be merely a footnote. I repeat: 80% of journalist murders go unpunished. This impunity emboldens perpetrators and corrodes international norms. It must end. We must strengthen international mechanisms for investigating and prosecuting these crimes and ensure that those who seek to silence the press through violence are brought to justice. In accordance with the recommendations from the Netherlands feasibility study, we should support the creation of an international investigative standing body to combat impunity for crimes against journalists.
We cannot afford to be passive. Reporters Without Borders found that more than half of the journalists murdered in 2024 were targeted in conflict zones. Additionally, 550 journalists are currently imprisoned globally, a 7% increase from 2023. This trend is a clear and chilling signal of escalating repression. In Gaza, the Israel-Hamas war is also a war on journalists. According to the Guardian Media Group, since October 2023, at least 170 to 232 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of them Palestinian. More than 380 have been wounded and at least 84 have been arrested in an unprecedented attack on journalists’ ability to do their job.
Now, 18 months on from the start of the war, almost all international journalists remain blocked from independently reporting on the conflict from inside Gaza, leaving local reporters as the only source of on-the-ground information. As has been said before, when journalists are silenced, so too is the voice of the people. A free and independent press is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary condition for peace, stability and prosperity. In a world increasingly defined by crisis and conflict, can the Minister assure me that His Majesty’s Government will rise to meet this moment by investing in the safety and resilience of journalists who risk everything to keep truth alive?
I look forward to hearing from the Minister and to working with colleagues in this House to ensure that our commitment to the safety and security of journalists remains unwavering.
Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)
My Lords, in the interests of brevity, I will restrict myself to asking my noble friend the Minister whether we plan to take action on four specific recommendations made by the Media Freedom Coalition’s high-level panel.
In 2019, it published four reports, each of which concluded with a specific recommendation. Other member states have begun to act on these, but the UK, despite its status as a founding member of the coalition, has not. First, it recommended the establishment of an emergency visa for journalists at risk. Secondly, it called for the creation of an independent investigative task force that can be deployed contemporaneously with the commission of the crimes to help tackle impunity for them. Thirdly, it advocated the use of targeted sanctions to provide accountability for such crimes and the ability to utilise sanctions in cases of arbitrary detention of journalists. Lastly, it suggested the enactment of a legal duty on states to provide consular assistance to journalists when arbitrarily detained abroad.
I know that some progress has been made on the latter, with the Government pledging to introduce a legal right to consular assistance for those affected by human rights violations, but real challenges remain. When will this be implemented and how can it better protect journalists who are arbitrarily detained abroad, such as British citizens Jimmy Lai, detained in Hong Kong, and Alaa Abd El-Fattah, detained in Egypt? Can my noble friend the Minister tell your Lordships’ House whether consideration is being given to following the example of other MFC members in adopting the high-level panel’s recommendations?
We know that the opposite of free speech is not silence but an uninterrupted monologue, and that the work of journalists in oppressive states is vital in protecting freedom and exposing governmental oppression.
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)
My Lords, we need assurance that this Government understand the vital role that journalists play in bearing witness, and the crisis that is enveloping journalism across the world. Journalists are increasingly being harassed, imprisoned and killed with impunity. As the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, mentioned, in Gaza and the West Bank alone over 175 journalists have been killed since the start of the conflict—a conflict where they are prohibited unless accompanied by designated officials.
Will the Minister join me in congratulating the Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network on its work supporting female journalists in the Middle East? I declare an interest as being on its advisory board. It was established in memory of my brave friend who was murdered in Homs by the Assad regime. She was inspirational in her belief in the power of journalism to bring about change. There is also the MFC, an advocate for press freedom and journalists under threat. Why will the Government not support the call from the International Federation of Journalists and the NUJ for a UN convention for the protection of journalists?
I have just returned from the US, where the effect of Trump is chilling. The Associated Press has been excluded from attending press briefings because it insists on calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. CBS News has been sued for the way it edited its own interview with Kamala Harris. Voice of America has been gutted, which makes support for our BBC World Service only more important—a beacon of non-partisan factual reporting which reaches a global audience of 320 million. Some 80% of the World Service budget is currently classed as ODA; can the Minister confirm that this funding will be protected?
When our Arabic radio service was withdrawn from Lebanon because of lack of funds, the frequency was taken over by Russia. Does the Minister not believe in sustainable investment in the World Service and that ultimately it should be financed through general taxation via the FCO, rather than by the licence fee?
Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)
My Lords, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.
In exercising Article 19, too many journalists face harassment, prosecution, asset freezing, disinformation, kidnapping and even death—UNESCO suggest that, in 2024, at least 68 journalists were killed—all at a time when media outlets are being closed through hostility or funding cuts. Does the Minister agree that, when crimes against journalists are left unpunished, the lack of accountability and impunity merely emboldens the perpetrators?
Some of these crimes involve transnational repression, the subject of a current inquiry by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. We have received 1,244 pages of written submissions and oral testimonies, including evidence of systematic targeting of BBC staff and their families in countries such as Russia and Iran. Over 300 BBC World Service journalists, around 15%, now operate in exile.
We heard from Jimmy Lai’s lawyers about his imprisonment in Hong Kong: jailed by the Chinese Communist Party for the crime of journalism and for promoting free media. We heard of the shocking attempted murder in London of an Iranian journalist, left bleeding on the pavement outside his studio as three assailants headed for Heathrow and out of the country.
The JCHR has been told, “There has been a serious escalation of harassment and security threats directed at journalists reporting on Iran from abroad”, including credible death and kidnap threats. The committee will this week publish some of this evidence. Will the Minister urgently look at the evidence, engage with the JCHR, respond to the BBC’s call for “better co-ordination across government departments” in providing support for journalists and their families, and tell us how we intend to use international fora to make more effectively the case for Article 19 and to challenge impunity?
Lord Garnier (Con)
My Lords, I begin by thanking my noble friend for initiating this debate and by referring to my interest as a member of the media law Bar.
In the brief time available, I will mention only one subject: Jimmy Lai. He is a journalist and newspaper owner. He is 77 and a British citizen. He is a prisoner of conscience who has been unjustly imprisoned in Hong Kong for over four years. His 12-month trial for national security offences and sedition is now adjourned until 14 August. For the rest of the hot Hong Kong summer, he will be incarcerated in a small, hot cell. He is on trial because he is a journalist and a pro-democracy activist. This is an affront to the rule of law, and to his and our internationally recognised human rights. It shows up the authorities in Hong Kong and China as weak, afraid and foolish.
I urge the Minister and the Government as a whole not to forget Jimmy Lai. I urge noble Lords in every part of this House not to forget Jimmy Lai. When at least one democratically elected western leader is appeasing a murderous thug—the very type of person he and we should be confronting—this House, Parliament, Government, country and democracy must stand up for Jimmy Lai and let China know that he is not forgotten.
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, for securing this debate and for an introduction that did not fall into outdated 20th century tropes about the idea of us over here with media freedom and them over there without it. The V-Dem—Varieties of Democracy—Institute’s report, Defiance in the Face of Autocratization, concludes that democracy around the world has receded to the level it was at in 1985 and that censorship and the intimidation of the media is a key factor in that. Brazil and Poland are two of the countries it sees crossing over from democracy to autocracy. As the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, set out, we are seeing lots of cases of media suppression in the United States but also a huge suppression of academics who are often the commentators and analysts in the media, crucial voices that are now being silenced by the Trump presidency.
The focus has to be truly on journalistic freedom as a good in itself, not on using it as a stick with which to beat the people we want to beat while quietly ignoring what our friends are doing. I will focus particularly on the many journalists and activists who have campaigned on environmental issues around the world, noting the British journalist Dom Phillips who was murdered in the Amazon while investigating illegal fishing, logging and drug trafficking in protected indigenous reserves.
A lot of this repression is about not just states, but the actions of corporate actors. Will the Minister say what we are going to do to strengthen UK law to exclude from our supply chain actors that are involved in the repression of free speech and the murdering of journalists and the activists who supply them with information associated, in particular, with extractive industries that damage the rights and lives of indigenous people?
Baroness Coussins (CB)
My Lords, I know the Minister is already well aware of the recent escalation in the Iranian authorities’ harassment and intimidation of BBC Persian journalists and their family members in Iran. The aim is to intimidate the journalists into stopping their work for the BBC World Service and to silence independent reporting on events in Iran. Reports to the BBC’s security team and to counter-terrorism police have not produced any relief or decline in the levels of intimidation. The targeting includes criminal convictions in absentia, freezing of assets, threats of kidnap and death and a disturbing increase of family members in Iran being questioned, harassed and having their passports confiscated.
London-based journalists cannot travel to see their families in Iran, obviously, so travel the other way is essential. However, there are significant problems with patchy advice from the Home Office and long delays in securing responses and the necessary documentation. The BBC has established good engagement on this with the FCDO, for which I am grateful to the Minister and his predecessor the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, but what is urgently needed now, on which I seek explicit and urgent assurances from the Minister, is a whole-government approach to supporting the Persian Service journalists and holding Iran to account both internationally and in the UK. What would help immediately would be some effective leverage from the FCDO on the Home Office to get it to support and speed up its processing of visa applications for family members wishing to travel to the UK to visit Persian Service journalists based here. Will he agree to take this up with his Home Office colleagues urgently?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I begin by extending my mubarak to my noble friend Lady Mobarik for convening this debate. I declare my interest as a non-executive director of Asia Media Group.
In 2019, the then Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and I launched the Media Freedom Coalition at the UN, together with our then media envoy Amal Clooney and Abdalla Hamdok, whom I know the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, knows all too well. How things have changed in Sudan since then. At that time, there were 22 members of the Media Freedom Coalition. When we left government there were 51 members.
I have three specific questions for the Minister in that regard. I associate myself totally with the call from the noble Lord, Lord Browne, on the recommendations. On the active use of human rights sanctions mentioned by my noble friend Lady Mobarik, I know the Minister cannot answer specifically whether they are actively being considered but they are a key pillar of human rights and sanctions are there for the Government to use.
How many countries have joined the Media Freedom Coalition since last year? In my experience, breadth of membership is important to seeing collective action.
How much funding is being allocated to UNESCO, the UN body administrating support for journalists, from the UK and collectively? I would appreciate an update specifically on that. UNESCO’s role was about directly supporting journalists. How many journalists were supported with their legal fees in 2024 and in advocacy and representation to other Governments?
Notwithstanding the challenges faced on the ODA budget, I hope that the focus and the prioritisation that I know the Minister is personally committed to will continue on this key human rights priority.
Lord Oates (LD)
My Lords, in my teenage years I grew up literally on Fleet Street, where my father was rector of the journalists’ church, St Bride’s, in the days when newspapers still clustered around the street. I learned a lot during that time about the courage of journalists in bringing us news from around the world and in holding the powerful to account. At the journalists’ altar in St Bride’s, those who have given their lives reporting the news continue to be remembered every day.
Today, journalists are under greater threat around the world than ever. In Sudan, at least seven have been killed since the war broke out, and many have been detained. In Gaza, as the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, and others have told us, more than 176 journalists and media workers have been killed.
In Zimbabwe, a country close to my heart, media freedom has been under siege for decades now. Journalists are regularly intimidated, detained and, on occasion, murdered. Printing presses have been blown up and public dissent silenced. As we speak, the journalist Blessed Mhlanga has been detained for 59 days and denied his constitutional right to bail. His crime is having the temerity to conduct an interview with a former war veteran who opposes President Mnangagwa’s desire to extend his term in office and has highlighted the criminal corruption of the regime and the President’s family.
I note that the President’s wife is due to speak at a summit in London in June. I hope that Members of our Parliament who are choosing to take part will challenge Zimbabwe’s First Lady on the continued detention of Blessed Mhlanga and the overall brutality of the regime she represents, and I hope the Government will continue to make clear that there will be no resumption of normal relations with Zimbabwe while the ZANU-PF regime continues to detain journalists, deny media freedom and defy democratic norms. As the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, said in her excellent speech, there must be consequences for such actions.
Baroness Sugg (Con)
My Lords, as a founding member of the Media Freedom Coalition, the United Kingdom has a clear role to play in defending journalists and safeguarding the freedom of the press around the globe. As we heard in my noble friend Lady Mobarik’s powerful introduction and from all noble Lords, threats to media workers continue, from censorship to physical violence, detention and killings, often with impunity.
Our commitment must be both principled and practical, and the UK should take action in three areas. First, we must continue to use our diplomatic influence to hold those who suppress media freedom to account. We must stand firm against regimes that target journalists through speaking out publicly, co-ordinated sanctions or international legal mechanisms. Secondly, we must help to lead global efforts to strengthen legal protections for journalists, working with international partners to promote laws that defend press freedom, supporting independent judiciaries and challenging the misuse of legislation such as defamation or national security laws that are too often weaponised against the press. Finally, we must lead by example at home by ensuring transparency, upholding the independence of the press and protecting journalists from threats or undue interference. The UK can model the values that we advocate for globally. After all, credibility abroad begins with integrity at home.
Media freedom is not just a democratic ideal; it protects against corruption. It gives voice to the vulnerable and helps to build peace. If we fail to protect those who report the truth, we are at risk of weakening democracy. The UK must not only speak up but step up for the safety of journalists, the strength of global media and the future of free expression.
I thank my noble friend Lady Mobarik for tabling this debate, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as deputy chairman of Telegraph Media Group and patron of the Rory Peck Trust, a charity which does exceptional work in helping freelance journalists in difficulty in hostile environments. Last year it supported more than 500 of them from 30 countries with everything from safety training to emergency medical equipment.
This subject is more important than ever as the world is increasingly unsafe for journalists and photographers. As the United States—for generations the advocate of last resort for media freedom—withdraws from its historic mission to defend free speech, new champions here in Europe are needed.
There are three immediate priorities. First, it is time to put in place an emergency visa scheme for journalists. Most reporters do not want to leave their home countries, but some have no choice but to do so to flee death or imprisonment. In such extreme cases, the window to safely exit their home is often very narrow—sometimes a matter of hours. We should join Canada, Germany, Spain and many others in putting in place safe mechanisms to help those in the greatest danger to find refuge, continue their important work and return home when it is safe. The numbers are small—perhaps 100 a year—but the signal it sends that the UK is a safe haven for those risking their lives to bring us the news is huge. Will the Minister please look at this issue?
Secondly, we must understand that here in the UK the level of intimidation of journalists, even for those on local newspapers, is intense and growing. I was told recently of a young, female journalist working for a National World local title who was subject to an abhorrent spate of email abuse and threats, in which she was told she would be sexually assaulted and killed. Fake pornographic images depicting her were circulated to her email contacts. Such examples are now tragically commonplace. Online safety laws must be implemented with rigour, not weakened in a futile act of obeisance to President Trump.
Finally, one of the most important things we can do to protect journalists in the UK is to bring in a comprehensive anti-SLAPP law. SLAPPs are used to bully and intimidate journalists seeking to uncover the truth and expose the corrupt. They are a totally unacceptable infringement on free speech deployed to coerce reporters. If we truly value journalistic safety and investigative journalism they must go.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, we all thank the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, for allowing us to have this short but very powerful debate in the House. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, for his work in the previous Government.
Restricting, demeaning and defunding the free press and media is a well-understood approach of autocrats and is on the increase, as we have heard. Free media are often the first victim of war, as we also heard, and journalists have too many times been personal victims and paid with their lives in order to spread truth, as my noble friend Lord Oates said in his powerful contribution. The refusal of Israel to allow free media to operate in Gaza, the refusals in Sudan, and the persecution of the press by Russia across the Ukraine conflict prove that if we believe in the rule of law, transparency and democracy, we must do more.
As my noble friend Lady Bonham-Carter said, we used to have a partner in the United States for this, but we can no longer rely on that to be the case. Therefore, it is necessary for our Government to step up, but with even a cursory glance at DevTracker online we see that UK global partnership for free media is being cut, not increased. Therefore, the alarming news that there could even be reductions in funding for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and concerns over future funding for the World Service mean that we need to plan more. We need to do more and we need to do it ourselves.
Some 25 years ago, the charity BBC Media Action was founded because the BBC saw a need to defend democracy, and to protect human rights, freedom of speech and media freedom, because they are the very core of national security. The need is even greater now 25 years on and it is up to the Government to increase, not to cut. It is a major strategic error to cut all those areas of development partnership when so much is at stake.
Lord Callanan (Con)
My Lords, journalists and media workers play a fundamental role, not only in our political systems but in safeguarding our democracies. Reporters hold Governments and powerful people to account. They work to ensure that, no matter what someone’s position is, any wrongdoing, abuse or misdemeanour is brought to light. The greatest enemy of autocracy is the free press.
As my noble friend Lord Ahmad reminded us, in 2019 the UK co-created the Media Freedom Coalition. Through this mechanism, we can raise violations of media freedom across the world, and the UK, alongside the MFC, has issued several statements condemning attacks on media freedom in countries including Myanmar, China and Russia. Of course we cannot directly control the laws passed in other countries, but standing alongside our allies in support of journalistic freedom sends a strong message to world leaders who would rather see this freedom repressed. Isolating those countries that do not respect a free media marks them out in stark contrast to those which do. It is important the Government continue this collaborative work with global partners as a means of holding those countries and leaders to account. Given this, I ask the Minister to outline the steps the Government are taking alongside global allies to try to influence countries in which media freedom and the security of journalists are under threat.
I have mentioned countries such as China and Myanmar. My noble and learned friend Lord Garnier was right to remind us once again to maintain the pressure on behalf of Jimmy Lai. However, these attacks on the press can often occur closer to home. Noble Lords will remember only last month the arrest and deportation of the BBC journalist Mark Lowen, who had been covering protests in Turkey. This was described by Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey director of Human Rights Watch, as sending
“a message to the rest of the international media that ‘we will not tolerate you covering stories we don’t want the world to see’”.
The deportation of Mr Lowen came alongside the detention of other journalists in Turkey, including those from the French news agency and several Turkish reporters. These actions have a chilling effect and are designed not only to remove reporters but to prevent them coming in the first place. When countries and leaders act in this way, the role of the media in holding them to account becomes even more important.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Collins of Highbury) (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, for her excellent introduction to this debate and for securing it. I also thank all noble Lords for their contributions. I will try to respond to all the points and questions raised.
As the Prime Minister said, this Government are clear:
“Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy. Journalists are guardians of democratic values”.
Across the world, media freedom is in decline. Newsrooms all over the world are closing and fewer people have access to trusted public interest media. But journalists are still fearlessly holding the powerful to account. Take, for example, the conflict in Gaza, as the noble Baroness highlighted, which has become the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers ever recorded. In Ukraine and Sudan, reporters are also taking significant risks to uncover the truth.
The Government have consistently advocated for the protection of journalists, along with other civilians, yet the number of threats journalists face today, from disinformation campaigns to the toxic online environment, especially for women, highlights the urgent need to protect our media. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, for raising the Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network. It plays an excellent role in highlighting that risk.
I also thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, for again highlighting the case of Jimmy Lai. It is really important that we emphasise his case. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor, Minister West and the Foreign Secretary have all raised his case at the highest levels with their Chinese counterparts and we will continue to do so. We are monitoring his trial. Diplomats from our consulate-general in Hong Kong attend the court proceedings on a regular basis and we will continue to press for consular access.
This is why the Government are championing the protection and promotion of media freedom internationally; it is an important part of our values. As noble Lords have said, the UK co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition with Canada in 2019. To answer the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, 51 countries are now members, and I am determined to ensure that number increases. We are in constant dialogue with allies about this. I am proud to build on the work of the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, and of the previous Government in establishing the coalition. I attended its fifth anniversary event at the UNGA last September.
To answer the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, we are absolutely committed to using all diplomatic tools. The Government have supported six Media Freedom Coalition statements on individual cases, including those of José Zamora in Guatemala and Stand News in Hong Kong, as well as statements on specific countries, such as Georgia and Burkina Faso, and on issues such as journalists in conflict.
The High-level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, ably chaired by my noble friend Lady Kennedy, provides expert legal advice to coalition member states on legislative reforms. My noble friend asked specific questions about its reports, and we certainly welcome its contribution to the coalition. Its reports have covered sanctions, consular safe refuge and investigations. On sanctions, we are more than happy to follow up separately on individual reports. On the reports on investigations into attacks on journalists, we share the concern and value the work that went into this report and the evidence it provides—to answer the other question—on impunity for crimes against journalists. We will pursue this as a matter of urgency.
The UK is actively working through existing OSCE and UN mechanisms to call for greater media freedom. We support the Council of Europe’s Journalists Matter campaign, and for the past five years we have funded, as noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, raised, UNESCO’s global media defence fund, which works to bolster journalists. We will continue to consider how best we can do that. As noble Lords pointed out, we have been reviewing how to strengthen support to British nationals overseas through our consular service, including support for journalists and the right to consular assistance.
On safe places and visas, the Home Office has advised that the Home Secretary’s existing discretion to grant leave—for example, in exceptional humanitarian circumstances—is sufficient to cover the point that the noble Lord, Lord Black, raised.
On Afghanistan, at the UNGA coalition event, I and Minister Mélanie Joly presented the Canada-UK Media Freedom Award to Lotfullah Najafizada, who accepted the award on behalf of independent journalists in Afghanistan. It was amazing to hear the contribution from them and the work that they continue to do: their courageous reporting on human rights and women’s rights under the Taliban regime. We will continue to highlight that.
At a time when media freedom is under threat across the world, I am pleased that the BBC World Service provides impartial, accurate news to global audiences of 320 million. Its language services reach audiences living in authoritarian and conflict-affected states, where accurate information is restricted. In October, we launched a new global media development programme with BBC Media Action in Sierra Leone, Zambia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Peru. Again, to answer the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, it is our Government’s policy to ensure a long-term sustainable funding future for the World Service, and we have committed to do this through the charter review. The media action programme also supports and strengthens local media in the countries I mentioned.
More broadly, we are committed to promoting and protecting human rights and the rule of law. It is important that we see media freedom through that prism—they are all interconnected. We will and do work with our allies to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations and hold those who violate or abuse human rights to account.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, said, we do not just champion media freedom abroad; we advocate for media safety at home, too. The UK convenes the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, which is responsible for the delivery of the national action plan for the safety of journalists. This year, we will work with members to draw up the next iteration of the plan. I hope I can reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, that tackling abusive legal threats against journalists will also be a key domestic focus this year.
As the noble Lord, Lord Black, raised, we have seen how journalists and others are targeted through legal action in UK courts for their role in exposing economic crime, including corruption. We understand the need for legislation, but we cannot legislate in haste. We have to understand and be clear about the balance between access to justice and free speech, but we are committed to reviewing it.
I hope that today’s debate is only the start of our consideration of this important issue. I again reassure the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, that this Government are committed to continuing the work that he started, which I am incredibly proud about, and that we will do so at all levels of our multilateral and bilateral relationships. I understand the points that the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, raised—I will not go through our spending plans point by point—but I reassure noble Lords that this Government are committed to ensuring that we use all tools available to us to defend media freedom, which includes all our diplomatic efforts.
To conclude, we are continuing to support and protect media freedom, both domestically and internationally, through the Media Freedom Coalition, which we are committed to building and extending, and other initiatives. We are taking big strides towards a safer and more transparent environment for all journalists, ensuring that independent media can thrive and hold power to account.
Baroness Coussins (CB)
Before the noble Lord sits down, can he comment on the question I asked about his willingness to speak to Home Office colleagues about being quicker off the mark in processing visa applications for the relatives of BBC Persian journalists? They need to come here to visit their family because the journalists, who are based in London, clearly cannot go there.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
I understand the noble Baroness’s point and I will undertake to do that.