Draft Electronic Commerce Directive (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018

Liam Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 6th March 2018 General Committees

[Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)]

This is the first time I have had the privilege of serving under your chairmanship, Mr Austin, and it is of note that we have not only a Chairman from the west midlands but two Front Benchers as well.

I am grateful to the Minister for her speech. It was almost as long as her speech last night in winding up five hours of debate on the Data Protection Bill. I am sorry that we none the less managed to stretch business to 10 o’clock.

The regulations are important, but the e-commerce directive is hopelessly outmoded and outdated. It regulates internet service providers, but was written before most of them came to enjoy the force and stature they do today. None the less, it is what we have, and if we can use regulations attached to it to make progress, in particular in the defence of children and their safety online, we must seize those opportunities with both hands. We will not, therefore, divide the Committee today. However, I ask the Minister to reflect, in her winding-up remarks, on why it has taken so long for those necessary defences to be brought to the House, and invite her to look to the future and tell us how long we will have to wait for proposals for the e-commerce directive to be modernised. Now that we are leaving the European Union, there are all sorts of opportunities to modernise laws in a way that maintains a degree of regulatory harmony, and therefore trade, with our biggest continental market and that also brings regulation of this important industry up to date.