Online Safety Bill

Debate between Damian Collins and Maria Miller

Report stage
Tuesday 12th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dame Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

My hon. Friend did not have the joy of being on the Bill Committee, as I did with my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp), who was the Minister at that point. The point that my hon. Friend has just made about free speech is so important for women and girls who are not able to go online because of the violent abuse that they receive, and that has to be taken into account by those who seek to criticise the Bill. We have to make sure that people who currently feel silenced do not feel silenced in future and can participate online in the way that they should be able to do. My hon. Friend is making an excellent point and I welcome him to his position.

[Damian Collins]

My right hon. Friend is entirely right on that point. The structure of the Bill is very simple. There is a legal priority of harms, and things that are illegal offline will be regulated online at the level of the criminal threshold. There are protections for freedom of speech and there is proper transparency about harmful content, which I will come on to address.

Privileges

Debate between Damian Collins and Maria Miller

Tuesday 2nd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Damian Collins]

The House does have rules relating to matters that are before UK courts and may prevent witnesses from giving evidence, but I agree with the principle that my hon. Friend has cited. I do not believe that Ministers should claim special privileges in order not to give evidence to a Committee, but they do have a different status. I do not think that that different status should give any individual in the country an opportunity to ignore an order from a Committee or a summons to appear before Parliament simply because they happen to take exception to the idea that Ministers have special privileges that they do not have—as, indeed, do Members of the House of Lords.

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

I want to pick up the point about consistency. It is not just my hon. Friend’s Select Committee that may have problems with calling witnesses—important witnesses—to take part in inquiries. The Women and Equalities Committee is currently going through a similar process, but we are only one month into requesting an individual to appear before us. Does my hon. Friend agree that it might be helpful if there were more explicit guidelines on the process to be followed, so that it could take place more speedily? I certainly would not want my inquiry on non- disclosure agreements to drag on for a further 10 months.

[Damian Collins]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. There needs to be more clarity about the process—clarity within the rules as they stand, and more clarity on what the powers of the House are. We have ancient powers, which in modern law cannot be enforced, and they have not been replaced with anything more suitable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Collins and Maria Miller

Thursday 20th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The right hon. Gentleman will know, given that he had my job in the previous Government, that the detail of that legislation requires a great deal of working through. That is a huge priority for this Government and I can assure him that we are working closely to ensure that copyright support is put in place as soon as possible.

[Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that creative business incubators such as the workshop that is opening in Tontine street in Folkestone this month, along with the Government’s seed enterprise investment scheme, will give a real boost to start-up businesses in the creative sector?

[Maria Miller]

Absolutely. The Government’s investment in culture and the arts will ensure that those start-up firms have the necessary stimulus to enable them to thrive.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Collins and Maria Miller

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)]

3. What plans she has to ensure a suitable commemoration of the centenary of the first world war.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller)]

We have announced a series of measures to commemorate the centenary of the first world war. The Government’s programme will focus on the key themes of remembrance, education and youth. It will include national commemorative events, a major remodelling of the Imperial War museum, support for school visits to the battlefields and a special grants programme from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support young people in community projects.

[Damian Collins]

I thank the Secretary of State for that. Does she agree that it is particularly important to support community projects, especially those such as the Step Short project in Folkestone, which is working to commemorate the lives of the 10 million men who passed through the fort, going to and from the trenches, during the first world war?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend rightly highlights the importance of local events, and I urge all hon. Members to examine the connection between their area and the first world war. It is by bringing it to life in this very local and personal way that we can give this commemoration the importance it needs. The Government are investing more than £50 million in projects such as the refurbishment of the Imperial War museum, but we will also be doing an awful lot more at a community level.