Gaza: BBC Coverage
Debate between Lisa Nandy and Paul Waugh(1 week, 5 days ago)
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Lisa Nandy
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for bringing this matter to the House, and also for raising it with me. As he knows, I have a long history of taking antisemitism extremely seriously—for instance, when it poisoned my own party—and I will always speak out without fear or favour when I see it raise its ugly head. I am, however, deeply disappointed by his attempts to pretend that the Government have been anything other than robust on this. He will know that in the media interviews to which he referred, I made it crystal clear that the UK Government and I believe, and have believed for a long time, that Hamas is not only a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK but a terrorist organisation, and we will continue to describe it as such. He will also know that in one of those interviews I made it clear that I had requested a meeting with the director general of the BBC to discuss the matter.
“Of course, the BBC is not there as an instrument of Government. Ministers seeking to interfere with editorial decisions or the day-to-day running of the organisation would be in nobody’s interests, in seeking to build the trust that is so fundamental to its core purpose.”—[Official Report, 27 February 2024; Vol. 746, c. 103WH.]
Those are not my words but the words of the last media Minister, the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez), whom the right hon. Gentleman served alongside. He was a Minister in that Government. The hon. Lady is now the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition. If he disagrees with her, I suggest that he take that up with her, but this is far too important an issue to be treated as a political football.
Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)
Along with several other Members, I visited Israel and the occupied west bank last week, but there was no access to Gaza for us. In fact, the closest we got to it was viewing the utter devastation of Gaza City through a telescope. Over the last year during the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 162 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza, and the BBC and other journalists have had no access to Gaza whatsoever. Does the Secretary of State agree that that is as unacceptable as any attacks on the independence of the BBC?
Lisa Nandy
Yes. The duty to report on what is happening to people in Gaza is absolutely fundamental, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has raised the issue of journalists, access and protection and safety a number of times. That is why the Government believe that the BBC and others have the utmost duty to exercise care and due diligence in the way in which they report on this conflict. It is in no one’s interests for the public not to have confidence in the information that they are receiving.
Film Industry
Debate between Lisa Nandy and Paul Waugh(5 months ago)
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Lisa Nandy
If my hon. Friend has even come up with a name, I say with sadness to the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) that I think my hon. Friend is currently winning this war. I recognise what he says about Calderdale, not least because I have visited it with him and I have seen the huge benefits that film and TV have brought to his constituency, and the amazing talent that it has been able to showcase. I think about shows like “Happy Valley” and not just the incredible backdrops that in his beautiful constituency, but the amazing women writers that it brings to the fore and great actresses like Sarah Lancashire. It really does show the best of what our country and the north of England have to offer, and my hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for them.
Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the statement, just as I welcome the cross-party consensus on the brilliance of the Paddington films. Here I would like to declare a family interest: my wife’s cousin, Rosie Alison, is the executive producer of those amazing Paddington films. And the House will not have long to wait: “Paddington 3” is coming out on 8 November.
As far as Rochdale is concerned, it is a fantastic location for filming, whether that is our magnificent town hall, our moorlands or Hollingworth lake, where the recent BBC TV series “The Jetty” was filmed. Rochdale Development Agency is currently exploring setting up a Rochdale film office. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this new tax break may well encourage that development?
Lisa Nandy
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, and can I convey my thanks to his wife’s cousin for her role in British cultural life and perhaps put in a plea for a cameo in “Paddington 4”? [Interruption.] I am not sure—that might be an abuse of the Dispatch Box.
The work that is happening in Rochdale is incredibly exciting. It shows that it need not just be our major cities that play a central part in our cultural life. Towns like his and mine and many of the towns and villages represented by Members from across our country, on all of our Benches, have made an incredible contribution to this country’s cultural life. We are absolutely determined that they will continue to do so.