Media Green Paper

Debate between Jeff Smith and Lisa Nandy

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

I am not going to take any lessons from him and his disgusting party, given the way that they spread misinformation and disinformation. This House has already come together to define what “public service media” is in law. The definition was passed by Parliament, and I do not recall there being a lot of concern about that; it has been enormously beneficial. One way that we could define “trusted news” would be to follow that definition, but we could also, for example, align with the editors’ code of practice. There are lots of different options, but to somehow claim that this is about the Government controlling what people see is absolute nonsense.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester Withington) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the publication of the Green Paper. None of us has all the answers when it comes to the fast-moving media landscape, but setting out the challenges and some principled ways forward is a good start. I especially welcome the focus on a duty for media literacy. My personal view is that a public purpose for the BBC on media literacy might be better than one on growth, but that is a debate for another day. Is the Secretary of State slightly disappointed, as I was, in the tone of some of the contributions from the Opposition about the prominence of trusted news? We already have a prominence regime in place; we just need to update it for the modern age. In an era when misinformation and disinformation are rife, is it not more important than ever that people get access to trustworthy news, and is that not what a prominence regime allows?

[Lisa Nandy]

I agree. In particular, we are letting down a generation of young people, who, as I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq), are often consuming media very differently from my generation and the generations before us. It cannot be right that my generation, who often watch and consume broadcasts on television sets, are able to easily and quickly find high-quality content and trusted news, but the younger generation are not.

Independent Football Regulator

Debate between Jeff Smith and Lisa Nandy

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jeff Smith (Manchester Withington) (Lab)]

We now have an excellent, highly qualified individual who has been appointed to chair the football regulator, and we have an excellent Secretary of State who made a mistake for which she has apologised. Even the commissioner said that the breach of the code

“was not a knowing breach.”

What football fans want is not this debate in Parliament today; what they want is for the Secretary of State to get on with the job, to protect clubs and to protect supporters. Can I encourage her to ignore the Opposition, who are playing politics with our national game, and just get on with the job?

[Lisa Nandy]

I thank my hon. Friend for what he has said, and I am pleased that he has joined the Select Committee. He has extensive knowledge of football and has been a consistent champion of football fans, and I very much support what he has said. This Government are absolutely determined to appoint the right people to the right positions, so that when fans go through the difficulties caused by poor owners, as they did at Charlton, they do not feel that they have nowhere to turn.