Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Whittingdale and Martyn Day

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

4. What assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK’s departure from the EU on the UK arts and culture sector.

[The Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure (Sir John Whittingdale)]

The UK arts and culture sector has many strong existing positive relationships in Europe, and we are taking a number of steps to deepen ties. The Government have developed bilateral agreements with European countries, and the British Council offers further sector-specific support, including the recently announced spotlight on culture between the UK and France.

[Martyn Day]

The UK Trade and Business Commission found that the Scottish arts and film industry has lost €27 million in EU funding as a consequence of Brexit, so will the Minister’s Government make up for that shortfall and the calamity that Brexit has imposed on the sector?

[Sir John Whittingdale]

While the UK decided not to participate in Creative Europe, nevertheless the UK shared prosperity fund, which is a UK-wide funding initiative, has match funded what was originally available from the EU and also gives local authorities, and indeed nations, control over how that money is spent.

BBC: Dyson Report

Debate between John Whittingdale and Martyn Day

Monday 24th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Whittingdale]

I can answer my right hon. Friend by saying that I am one of the people he has described precisely, in all three of those measures, and I, too, have occasionally been concerned at what appeared to be a lack of impartiality in the BBC on some of those issues. That is something that has been, I think, felt by a large number of people. It is the job of the BBC—as I say, it is the first public purpose of the BBC—to deliver impartiality. I know that that is something that the leadership of the BBC which is now in place is absolutely committed to, but it will be examining ways in which that can be strengthened where necessary.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP) [V]]

While Ministers toy with taking greater personal control of the BBC, true democratic reform remains out of reach. So, rather than stifling journalistic freedom, will the Minister consider devolving broadcasting powers to the devolved nations to ensure democratic, local regulation of BBC services?

[Mr Whittingdale]

The Government have no intention of imposing greater control over the leadership of the BBC. The BBC is independent and we are committed to respecting and strengthening that independence, When it comes to the question of governmental responsibility, it is not a devolved matter; the BBC is a national broadcaster covering the whole of the United Kingdom, so we believe that it is right that it remains the responsibility of the UK Government as a whole.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Whittingdale and Martyn Day

Thursday 10th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the retention of (a) the GDPR and (b) other EU regulations on data protection after the transition period.

[The Minister for Media and Data (Mr John Whittingdale)]

The general data protection regulation regime will be retained in domestic law after the transition period through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The UK remains committed to maintaining high data protection standards now and in the future.

[Martyn Day [V]]

The EU has been a world leader when it comes to the protection of citizens’ digital rights. This is evidenced by the large number of countries, such as South Korea, Japan and Brazil, that sought to emulate its groundbreaking GDPR policy. As the end of the transition period looms, how will the UK Government ensure that digital rights law not only lives up to the EU’s high standards but exceeds them?

[Mr Whittingdale]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the GDPR has ensured that we have high standards and, as I say, we are absolutely committed to maintaining them. We have no intention of diverging substantially from GDPR, but obviously we will be looking to see whether there are ways in which we can improve our regime while maintaining those high standards.