Lord Bassam of Brighton
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Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts(1 day, 16 hours ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The noble Lord is right that the Prime Minister visited the UAE in December. I am not clear whether this issue was raised, but I am clear that we will continue to do whatever we can to reinforce the UK-UAE relationship more generally. Separate to that, we are taking forward the legislation that he led on when the party opposite was in government, which I hope to bring before the House in the near future.
Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)
My Lords, when we were in opposition, we were very concerned about the ownership of national titles and newspapers, and we made that very clear. But another issue on which I would like to get the Minister’s view is journalists’ safety. There are continuing and widespread threats to journalists online and also physical threats, which were apparent in last year’s riots. Does my noble friend the Minister share my concerns—and those of other noble Lords, I am sure—about the safety of journalists? What more can we as a Government do to make sure that this part of the freedom of the press is fully protected?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
My noble friend makes a really valid point. Yesterday we spoke about Gaza and the horrendous number of journalists and media workers who have died in the course of that conflict. My noble friend referred to the riots in the wake of the attack in Southport. Even in this country, the harassment of journalists reporting generally, but specifically reporting on those public order events, is completely unacceptable and incompatible with a healthy and functioning democracy. We need a situation in which journalists can operate without fear of abuse, threats or intimidation. The Government are committed to defending the role of a free media and the safety of journalists, and we continue to work on these important issues, including by delivering our national action plan for the safety of journalists, working with criminal justice, civil society and media partners.