Culture, Media and Sport
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(3 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Chi Onwurah
Since the Hamas atrocities of 7 October, tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed by Israeli forces, and hundreds of thousands more have been subject to unimaginable suffering. It is essential that their stories be told and it is unacceptable that the BBC should have chosen to tell them through those connected to Hamas. We understand that the BBC is not allowed into Gaza, so will the Secretary of State confirm where this programme was subcontracted and to whom? On the issue of translation, does the BBC not have a translation guide? Is that publicly available? If not, should it be? Finally, when Israeli Ministers and others call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza or for the elimination of the Palestinian people, surely that must be reported in a way that highlights that that is illegal and the cause of immense distress to many in this country?
Lisa Nandy
My hon. Friend speaks powerfully about the careful use of language and the way in which we all have a responsibility to uphold the highest standards on that. On her specific question, having had discussions with the BBC, I can confirm that this was not a BBC programme; it was commissioned by an external organisation.
[Official Report, 27 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 940.]
Written correction submitted by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the right hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy):
Gaza: BBC Coverage
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Lisa Nandy
When I met British Palestinians whose family members are in Gaza and when I met the families whose loved ones had been taken hostage by Hamas, and had been held or continue to be held in Gaza, I made a commitment to them that, in opposition and in government, we would continue to use every opportunity to shine a spotlight on what is happening to them. I think they will be very encouraged by the words of the hon. Lady. It is a particular to tribute to the House that Members from every political party are raising these issues and ensuring that we continue to tell those stories.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Since the Hamas atrocities of 7 October, tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed by Israeli forces, and hundreds of thousands more have been subject to unimaginable suffering. It is essential that their stories be told and it is unacceptable that the BBC should have chosen to tell them through those connected to Hamas. We understand that the BBC is not allowed into Gaza, so will the Secretary of State confirm where this programme was subcontracted and to whom? On the issue of translation, does the BBC not have a translation guide? Is that publicly available? If not, should it be? Finally, when Israeli Ministers and others call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza or for the elimination of the Palestinian people, surely that must be reported in a way that highlights that that is illegal and the cause of immense distress to many in this country?
Lisa Nandy
My hon. Friend speaks powerfully about the careful use of language and the way in which we all have a responsibility to uphold the highest standards on that. On her specific question, having had discussions with the BBC, I can confirm that this was not a BBC programme; it was commissioned by an external organisation. That in no way absolves the BBC from the responsibility to undertake due diligence on a programme that it airs. When it is aired by our national broadcaster, it is granted the legitimacy of our national broadcaster, and that is why these standards matter. I will take away her suggestion about a publicly available translation guide, which might help to assuage some of the concerns raised by the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), and discuss that with the BBC.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Marsha De Cordova
Nobody can deny that working cross-party is one of the best ways to get things done, so I am happy to support the right hon. Member and others in their endeavours. I am also happy to meet the group.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Newcastle’s beautiful cathedral is an important part of our economic life, as well as our cultural and religious life, but it receives very little funding from the Church of England and does not benefit from any significant endowments or property ownership, unlike other cathedrals. With 80% of England’s cathedrals predicted to post budget deficits, what discussions has the Second Church Estates Commissioner had with the Church of England regarding the financial sustainability of cathedrals?
Marsha De Cordova
As I say, the Church of England meets regularly to look at the impact of costs on cathedrals, and I am happy to write to my hon. Friend about the issue.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Marsha De Cordova
I will certainly share the hon. Member’s thoughts, but I am happy to write to him with further details on other spaces where he can get more information on how he can support schemes in his constituency.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)
Marsha De Cordova
The Makin report made clear the devastating abuse suffered by children and young people at the hands of John Smyth. In the meeting I had with representatives from the Archbishops’ Council, I raised the need for the Makin review to be a defining and watershed moment for the Church. The review made 27 recommendations, some of which have already been implemented. I am awaiting a full and thorough update from the Church on the detailed progress being made on each recommendation. That work is in addition to the ongoing efforts to respond to the Wilkinson and Alexis Jay inquiries into child sexual abuse. Following these reports, the Church began developing potential new safeguarding models, which will be decided at the General Synod in February.
Chi Onwurah
I pay tribute to my ecclesiastical co-worker, the Right Reverend Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, for her leadership and courage in championing the voices of victims in the wake of the Makin review. Newcastle is proud of her. Are the Church Commissioners aware of her ongoing concerns about the implementation of the review? In particular, what can they do to ensure that dioceses have the resources necessary to implement a high standard of safeguarding and to ensure that the Church is focused on the interests of the victims and the vulnerable, rather than the career interests of leading clergy?
Marsha De Cordova
My hon. Friend rightly raises the work that her own bishop has been doing in her constituency on this issue. Following the Makin review, colleagues such as my hon. Friend and many represented here today and from across the House have rightly been raising their concerns about safeguarding in the Church. This week I met representatives from the Archbishops’ Council, including the Bishop of Stepney, Joanne Grenfell, who is the lead bishop for safeguarding in the Church, to raise my concerns. The House can rest assured that I did that robustly.
The Church’s national safeguarding team is now at stage three of its four-stage process to assess and deal with the risk posed by those criticised in the Makin review, which is rightly welcomed. In addition, the Church institutions have developed the two model proposals on safeguarding, which will go to the Synod in February. Those independent safeguarding models will look at a scrutiny body and at safeguarding operations more independent of the Church. I will be at the Synod in February, and I will listen closely to that debate. Make no mistake, the Church has an enormous amount of work to do to create a cultural shift. That is what is required. It needs to rebuild trust and confidence. It is also important that everybody in the House feels as though they get the opportunity to raise their concerns. I thank my hon. Friend and others for ensuring that they have raised this issue here today.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(10 months ago)
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Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Mr Speaker
First, may I just say to Sir Charles that I am sorry you are stepping down? I thank you for all you have done. You have been a wonderful servant of this House, and I thank you for everything, including your service on the Commission.
Sir Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
Thank you for that, Mr Speaker. It has been a great privilege to serve with you on the Commission, and it has been such an honour to be in this amazing institution and to serve my country in the way I have, with the wonderful people here. Gosh, I wasn’t going to get sentimental.
Since my last answer on this issue in February 2024, the Parliamentary Digital Service has been assessing Microsoft’s generative AI toolset, Copilot, which includes artificial intelligence for mailboxes. That tool will aid Members and staff in their management of day-to-day administrative activities across Microsoft 365 applications. PDS is conducting further necessary technical work, and it is expected that a trial of the new capability will start with Members before the end of the year. I am not sure if it is Nokia compatible, but if it is, I hope it can be put on my Nokia.
Chi Onwurah
Mr Speaker, I echo your tribute to the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Sir Charles Walker), and thank him for his service on the House of Commons Commission and his engagement with me on this subject on many occasions.
During the dark days of covid, Mr Speaker, when many did not believe that a digital Parliament was possible and some did not want the continued scrutiny, you and I, and the House officials and the Digital Service, worked together to move Parliament online over the course of just one recess. That was an immense achievement, and I pay tribute to you and to the Digital Service for that. Does the hon. Member for Broxbourne agree that while Labour will be campaigning for the change that Britain so desperately needs, the Digital Service will be working to ensure that AI, open source, cloud and all the other digital innovations are at the disposal of Members of the new Parliament to support them in their work?
Sir Charles Walker
PDS and the security services are working really hard to make sure that the House gets it right. There is so much opportunity presented by AI, but given the sensitive and important positions that we hold and that future colleagues will hold, we have to make sure that we get it right so that we are advantaging our constituents, not our enemies.
Draft Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (Security Requirements for Relevant Connectable Products) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(10 months, 1 week ago)
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Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Rees, I believe for the first time. I thank the Minister for setting out the draft regulations.
Before I start, I must declare an interest. I worked in technology for two decades before entering Parliament, the last six years of which I spent with Ofcom as head of telecommunications technology, which included internet security. I am proud to have been the first Member of Parliament to mention the internet of things—connected devices—in this place, in 2011 during a Westminster Hall debate I secured on machine-to-machine communications, partially as a consequence of my experience in the tech and regulatory sectors.
Over the years I have regularly called for better security for consumers with regard to this important enabling technology. Indeed, the exponential growth that I predicted in the number of connected devices in our homes, on our wrists and on our roads has taken place, and with it the need for robust protections has grown. We on the Opposition Benches are glad that the Government finally took action in 2022 and are building on that with these latest draft regulations, which will take the next steps towards a bespoke cyber-security regime for vehicles. Automated vehicles have the potential to create a market worth £42 billion by 2035, create 38,000 new jobs, and improve road safety and connectivity for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. It is right that this highly exciting sector is supported to grow with targeted pro-innovation and pro-consumer regulation.
Members will be glad to hear that I do not intend to detain the Committee long, but I want to address some of the fundamental concerns with the legislation. Above all else, safety is paramount. During the passage of both the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 and the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, which received Royal Assent this week, Labour was crystal clear that the first duty of any Government is to keep their citizens safe. Our cyber-security is a No. 1 priority, and Labour would never play fast and loose with it.
As such, we welcomed the security aspects of the PSTI Act, as well as Government concessions to put the highest standards of safety on the face of the Automated Vehicles Act. The Government’s “Connected and automated vehicles: process for assuring safety and security”, or CAVPASS, with which I am sure the Minister is familiar, is intended to provide Government assurance of the safety and cyber-security of self-driving vehicles by 2025—that is, at the end of this year. Is the Minister confident that the Government are on track to achieve that goal? What assurances can she give the public in the meantime—in the next six months or so, until CAVPASS bears fruit, if that is when it will bear fruit—that automotive products with connected capabilities are being sold secure?
Are the Government taking steps to address the national security implications of connected vehicles, which is an increasing concern for the public? In the debate on the 2023 regulations last September, I highlighted how cellular internet-of-things modules, or CIMs, power much of the consumer connected device landscape by enabling internet access. China is attempting to corner the global market in CIMs, which could have immense national security implications, since, for example, when they are embedded in cars, they transmit location, route and even passenger video. With Chinese firms such as BYD and Geely becoming major players in automotive manufacturing, is the Minister assured that the regulatory regime is strong and flexible enough to protect the British public as the technology adapts and evolves?
Lastly, I want to raise the need for ongoing dialogue in this space. It is right that the Government have communicated to businesses years in advance their intention for automotive vehicles to be exempted from the PSTI regime. I also appreciate the extensive work by organisations such as the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and the Law Commission in preparing for the Automated Vehicles Act.
The explanatory memorandum to the draft regulations leaves open a few options for the Government to regulate further, such as mandating UN regulation No. 155 on cyber-security, as the European Union has already done for some vehicles from July 2022. Given that we export 600,000 cars a year, have the Government considered alignment with international partners on cyber-security—the Minister seemed to suggest that she had—through the UN and other fora, and the implications for trade and exports? Can the Minister explain what the Government are doing to keep businesses abreast of their plans? It is vital that businesses, particularly in our incredibly important automotive industry, which is undergoing so many changes, can plan ahead for the next generation of cars.
On that subject, it was disappointing that the Government did not accept any of Labour’s amendments during Committee stage of the Automated Vehicles Bill, which would, in particular, have established an advisory council to aid the Act’s implementation and strengthened the accessibility of automated vehicles for disabled people. Will the Minister commit to consult regularly with business and trade unions during the roll-out of the connected and automated vehicles security regime, and to embed accessibility in all the safety regulations from day one?
Innovation in road transport will create huge opportunities for our economy and society, and we must embrace them. But we must make sure that security and safety are built into these technologies from the outset. Labour and the British people will accept nothing less. I thank the Minister in advance for her answers to my questions.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(11 months, 1 week ago)
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Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)
Getting people active is absolutely vital, particularly those who are not active at the moment, which will include those from low-income families. That is why we have a sport strategy to get 3.5 million people more active. It is why we are investing around £400 million in grassroots sports facilities up and down the country, including £4 million in Newcastle upon Tyne Central. We are ensuring that that money is targeted particularly on the most deprived neighbourhoods.
Chi Onwurah
I hope the Secretary of State will join me in congratulating Newcastle United women on their promotion to the championship. This season, they have helped inspire more than 300 young girls to take part in Newcastle United Foundation’s Premier League Kicks sessions, but with a third of young people in Newcastle inactive and our childhood obesity rates the highest in the region and among the highest in the country, we cannot leave it all to the foundation. How frequently does the Secretary of State meet the Department for Education to ensure that disadvantaged young people have access to sporting opportunities in schools? Specifically, what comparison has she made between sporting facilities in the state and private school sectors?
Lucy Frazer
This is a really important area, and I congratulate the Newcastle United women on their success and, indeed, all women taking part in sport. That is why, through the future Lionesses fund, we have invested £30 million for 30 pitches across the country to make sure that women get more activity and more opportunities to take part in sport. The specific question was about engagement with the Department for Education, which I have regularly. In fact, it sits on the taskforce I was talking about to get more people active, as do other Departments. We all need to work together to make sure we get more sport in school, more people active and equal opportunities for young girls in schools across the country.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. If we have very brief questions and answers, I will try to get everybody in. I call Chi Onwurah.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
The “Space Investigators” exhibition at the Great North Museum celebrates the amazing history of the north-east in designing and manufacturing telescopes. What support does the Minister offer so that regions such as ours can better understand and promote our great industrial heritage?
Lucy Frazer
I am pleased that work has been going on in the hon. Lady’s constituency on these important matters. Of course, through Arts Council funding and through Department for Culture, Media and Sport funding, we support institutions across the country that support the history of, and what is going on in, their local communities, as well as arts across the country.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Sir Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
The Parliamentary Digital Service supports the Commission by delivering technology for Members, and tools are under constant development. A range of productivity tools are already available to Members and their staff from Microsoft via the Parliamentary Digital Service. They include Microsoft Forms, which helps with tasks such as collating constituents’ information. Microsoft Planner can track workstreams in an MP’s office and is used by some offices to induct new staff. “Bookings with me” can arrange one-to-one time with external guests, such constituents.
PDS independently investigates and works with Parliament’s suppliers to explore new technologies that could benefit MPs in their work. The team welcomes volunteers from the Member community to pilot such services ahead of full roll-out. As the Chair of the Administration Committee, I would be happy to arrange for the hon. Lady to meet any relevant officials.
Chi Onwurah
Like most Members, I receive hundreds of invitations every week, and much more spam. It takes a member of my team hours—sometimes days—to go through them all. That is time that could be much better spent supporting constituents, particularly in a cost of living crisis. There are digital tools that can help with that; none that the hon. Gentleman mentioned will do so. Microsoft recently demoed its Copilot tool, which uses artificial intelligence. Other tools are available. While there may be issues of privacy, security and bias with such tools, as with much AI, can he confirm that the Commission is looking specifically at AI tools to help us in our work for our constituents?
Sir Charles Walker
I can. The hon. Lady is absolutely right: there are security issues that need to be looked at closely, but I have an answer, specially prepared. Copilot is Microsoft’s version of ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence service. Now, this is the relevant bit: PDS has arranged a series of internal workshops with Parliament’s Microsoft partner to allow PDS staff to explore how this technology could be used in the parliamentary network. The outcomes of those workshops will feed into Parliament’s overall AI strategy—I am nearly there, Mr Speaker. I speak as the proud owner of a Nokia. The recent and rapid development in artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, presents exciting opportunities.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Julia Lopez
My constituency shares deep ties with my hon. Friend’s, as RAF Hornchurch is in my constituency. Some RAF fighters based there joined in the battle of Britain, protecting London and our nation at a time of deep terror. We have a fantastic local museum at RAF Hornchurch, if I may just give it a plug, that is run by volunteers and is an absolute treasure trove; I recommend it. I understand that my hon. Friend has met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, who is responsible for arts and heritage, but I understand that we will also have an opportunity to debate the subject in greater detail next week, and I look forward to that.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Hadrian’s Wall runs through the heart of Newcastle’s west end, but it is little celebrated or signposted, and the Hadrian’s Wall national trail does not actually follow the wall’s path through my constituency. What help can the Minister offer to local communities keen to celebrate this history, which is literally in their backyard?
Julia Lopez
I was not aware of this outrageous oversight on paths and signage, so I will raise it with Lord Parkinson at the next opportunity.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chi Onwurah Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Stuart Andrew
Well, Eurovision of course. I always make sure that I take the opportunity to meet fans and see the experience that they are having at these events, so that we learn from them and ensure that we are addressing any issues that come up. That is why we will be working with all operational partners to ensure that every match is a good one for people to enjoy.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
St James’ Park in the heart of Newcastle will be welcoming European football fans as part of Euro 2028, and we are very proud of that. Following the 2012 Olympics, sports participation did not increase. Will the Minister set out what the Government will do to ensure that the legacy of Euro 2028 is increased participation across Newcastle?
Stuart Andrew
The hon. Lady raises an important point. Legacy is incredibly important to me. That is why we have been giving hundreds of millions of pounds to improve on and build new grassroots sports facilities, so that there are plenty of opportunities for people to enjoy the things they want to do that are inspired by tournaments just like Euro 2028.