Freedom of Speech

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Excerpts

Friday 10th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay) (Con)]

My Lords, I am very grateful to the most reverend Primate for giving us this important and, if I may say so, enjoyable debate. As he said, this is a return to tradition for your Lordships’ House—a tradition which, as a relative newcomer, I have not had the privilege of participating in before.

This debate is on a fundamental issue. Without freedom of speech and open debate, no other question can be adequately settled. It is a debate that is both ancient and timely. These are age-old questions, and noble Lords have pointed to many examples down the ages where society has grappled with them. However, we are beset by contemporary challenges, as the most reverend Primate’s Motion draws our attention to. He outlined three threats in particular: the fear of reprisal, the distortion of truth and the dehumanisation of those with whom we disagree. All seem to be growing.

Free speech seems to be more complicated than ever. Many more people are involved in the conversation, and debates seem to happen with the fast-forward button on. Previously, they were curated in fora such as this, with parliamentary privilege and the mandate of election or a Writ of Summons, in academia with challenge from examiners or peer review, and in books and newspapers with selection by publishers or editors and rights of reply. Social media has changed that; as the most reverend Primate said, we are increasingly our own curators, editors and publishers.

Anyone with an opinion, however crass or simplistic, can express it, and anyone can engage with it. Those with fringe opinions can find like-minded people and caucus to amplify their voices. The powerful and mighty can be challenged and mocked in full public view. I have tried to state these changes neutrally, for they have both good and bad consequences, but they have changed the way we engage in public discourse—as have the algorithms which funnel us into silos and echo chambers and the fiat of online platforms over the content they do and do not allow, as the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, mentioned.

The most reverend Primate cited Timothy Garton Ash’s three vetoes: that of the heckler, the offensiveness veto, and that of the assassin. To begin with, I might say something about our work as a Government to overcome each of these.

The voices of the heckler are heard most loud online, and the online safety Bill, which has been mentioned by many noble Lords, will tackle abuse while upholding the right to free speech. As noble Lords reminded us, it is before a Joint Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, that today’s debate, particularly the speech of the most reverend Primate, is essential reading for the members of the Joint Committee.

That Bill will usher in a new era of accountability for tech companies, upholding free expression and pluralism online. All platforms in the scope of the Bill will need to consider and implement safeguards for freedom of expression when fulfilling their duties. Although companies must take robust action to tackle criminal activity, in order to protect free speech regulation will not require the removal of legal content, nor prevent adults accessing or posting legal content. Platforms will therefore not be able arbitrarily to remove harmful content. They will need to be clear what content is acceptable on their services and to enforce the rules consistently. Services that are high risk and high reach will have additional duties to protect democratic and journalistic content, and must consider whether the public interest in such content outweighs the potential harm it can cause.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Oxford and others spoke about our particular duty to the most vulnerable and to children. The strongest protections in the Bill will be for children. Our aim is to make the United Kingdom the safest place in the world to be a child online.

I also agree with the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, about the challenges of the disappearing record of the internet. The historian in me worries about the archives of the future and the material that will not be available to those who look back on our era. It also has an impact on the way we conduct ourselves and post such content: if we think our comments are ephemeral then perhaps we do not give them the weight and consideration they deserve. I would be very happy to speak to him about that further.

The second veto is that of offensiveness. There is no right not to be offended. Increasingly, we hear people asking for views not to be aired because they make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. As the most reverend Primate says, a duty lies on the speaker to be fitting in what they say, but that is, in the most part, a moral duty rather than a legal one. There is a duty on the listener too to understand that the offence they take may not be shared by everybody and to allow a range of views to be heard.

History is littered with examples of what happens when we do not air dangerous views in the open and confront them head on. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, and others in their comments about the evils of anti-Semitism. Dangerous views fester in the darkness and grow more dangerous still.

I was very glad that the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries of Pentregarth, pointed to the statue by Martin Jennings of George Orwell outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House and the quotation from that author, which is worthy of repeating:

“If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”


Perhaps nowhere is that more important than in the academy. Many noble Lords spoke of free speech in higher education, citing a number of instances; I hope they will forgive me if, under the pressure of time, I do not dwell on each one.

I certainly agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine, that one of the important roles of our universities is to build resilience, so that people are equipped to engage with ideas in later life, including those with which they disagree, if people feel unsafe listening to certain speakers, reading broadsheet newspapers, or even listening to debates in your Lordships’ House and in Parliament. That is why the Government have brought forward the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill. We are clear that higher education providers in England must have a duty to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for students, staff and visiting speakers. Academic staff must feel safe to question and test received wisdom, and to put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions without the risk of losing their jobs, their privileges or their chances of promotion. The noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, cited the list in Prospect magazine of the many academics who pointed to the treatment they received and the fears they have as evidence that this is, I fear, a growing problem on campus.

My noble friend Lord Sandhurst alluded to the proposed new code at the University of Cambridge, which was rightly amended following a campaign by many members of that university, including the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham. We should tolerate the views of others, but while we should always endeavour to engage respectfully, we should not be forced to respect views with which we disagree. A key sentiment that has come through in noble Lords’ speeches today is that we must be free to disagree well. Following on from the comments of my noble friend Lord Hannan, I disagree with many of my friends—they certainly disagree with me—but it is important that we can maintain friendship and respectful debate while disagreeing.

I must briefly pick up on the comments of my noble friend Lord Sandhurst. He mentioned the row about Andrew Graham-Dixon. That was actually at the Cambridge Union, not the Oxford Union, an older and more distinguished society and one where, I am happy to say, the issue was quickly overcome.

The third area of veto is that of the assassin, whether literal or the challenges of violence that so many face. We see that in those who defend our open media at home and around the world, as the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, highlighted in her contribution. It can be seen in the award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, the first journalists to receive it since 1935. Their recognition also served to underline that many jurisdictions have taken the opportunity of the pandemic to strengthen their already repressive machinery to reduce freedom of speech and critical voices.

The UK has a long and proud history of promoting freedom of expression globally, underpinned by our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed, as noble Lords have rightly noted, 73 years ago today. We remain a co-chair, with Canada, of the Media Freedom Coalition, which is taking action to defend media freedom, including through statements on the deteriorating situation for organisations in Egypt, Belarus, Hong Kong and Russia. Ensuring that the global news industry not only survives but thrives is an essential part of our development work. The UK has provided more than £400 million of official development assistance to support global media outlets in the past five years, and we are proud of our commitments there.

These reflect our long-standing commitment to freedom of the press at a domestic level. The UK is rightly proud of its fine global reputation, underpinned by a common recognition across society that freedom of the press is fundamental to a healthy democracy. The Government do not—and will not—intervene in what the press can and cannot publish, as long as it abides by the law of the land. What we can and must do is support the efforts of those who hold the powerful to account. To that end, the UK has set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, and we have published a National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists, setting out concrete initiatives which will provide genuine support to journalists facing both abuse and threats to their personal safety as well as encroachments on their freedom of expression.

Another area in which we are tackling violence and intimidation is through the Elections Bill, which is guided by the Government’s determination to ensure that our democracy remains secure, fair and transparent. We are the stewards of a fantastic democratic heritage which we must secure and cherish in our age. British democracy has always been robust and oppositional. Critical debate is a fundamental part of it, but a line is crossed when disagreement mutates into intimidation and abuse. In particular, intimidating someone into changing their vote or abstaining from voting is unacceptable and strikes at the very heart of our democracy. That is why a new electoral sanction against intimidation, effective all year round, will protect candidates, aspirant candidates, campaigners and elected officeholders from intimidation on and offline.

When I first saw it, I thought there might be an omission in the most reverend Primate’s Motion, although I am glad to say that there was not one in his speech. He talks of the role of public, private and civil society sectors in overcoming the challenges to freedom of speech, but there is a role for individuals too—for each and every one of us. Free speech, as he says, should be fitting speech: we must choose carefully the words we use. We cannot legislate ourselves, as he says, to good behaviour. The most reverend Primate rightly paid tribute to the way we do that in your Lordships’ House. Today’s exchanges have been a case in point.

I will take the opportunity to speak a little about my portfolio and talk about the arts as another vital means of free expression—for art is about ideas, emotions and identity. It is a way of seeing the world through others’ eyes, down the ages and across the globe. Because of this, art is often controversial, and rightly: it should provoke us, confront us and challenge us to think anew. Politicians are often asked their views on these controversies, and of course they have a right to engage in the debates that artists provoke as much as anyone else. My approach so far, which I hope to maintain, is to try to see the work of art in question before commenting on it. Context and nuance are essential, and dialogue and debate rely on both sides to engage faithfully and with open minds.

Art can illuminate the big questions that face us, such as the one that we are debating today. The Turner Prize was awarded earlier this month in Coventry, City of Culture. The winner was the Array Collective, a Belfast-based group, which won with an installation of a pub, bedecked with banners and placards representing some of the most thorny and emotively charged debates of our age: on abortion, gay rights, race and gender. But perhaps the most important message was conveyed in the list of pub rules inside that pop-up pub. These included the entreaty that, while debating these issues, you must have a laugh. In a part of our country that knows all too well the dangers of sectarianism and what happens when open debate is replaced by the violence of the bomb and the gun, how powerful and necessary it was to see a work of art that champions the shared spaces where we can talk and disagree in an open, welcoming and good-humoured way. I congratulate them on their win.

Last night, I had the privilege of attending the opening night of “Best of Enemies”, the new play by James Graham—a shrewd and sensitive chronicler of our age—at the Young Vic. It concerns the televised debates in 1968 between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr. It contains so many of the themes that we have touched on in our debate today: the polarisation of political debate; the role of the media in shaping and mis-shaping that; questions of race, sexuality and national identity; and the role and challenges of political protest—in this case, the clashes on the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. Half a century on from the events in that play, the questions that it poses us are as arresting and important as ever. I warmly encourage noble Lords to go and see it.

Like every aspect of public discourse, art benefits from a wide and diverse range of voices and views. That is why it is so important that previously marginalised groups are given the chance to tell their stories and make their voices heard. That is why we must all have the humility and open-mindedness to re-examine our convictions, however long or earnestly held, in the light of new insights and perspectives. That is why we must also protect those who express heterodox views as well as those who defend or reflect old orthodoxies. I was especially pleased to hear my noble friend Lady Sanderson of Welton drawing attention to the concerns expressed by Dame Rose Tremain and Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, who have done so much to understand and increase our wider understanding of people with experiences far removed from their own.

I have already had some illuminating and thought-provoking discussions with people working in different parts of the arts, for this is a growing and impassioned area of debate. Just a few days ago, I saw that Eddie Redmayne wondered, with great care and reflection, whether he would play the role of a trans woman today, as he did in “The Danish Girl”. For my part, I am glad he did, for I thought that he did so with great sincerity and brought to wider attention the experience faced by trans people. Like the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, I think that we benefit from trying to walk in the shoes of others. But what matters is not just who tells the story but how they tell it—the research that they do and the spirit in which they do it—and I agree with my noble friend Lady Sanderson that we need to hear more voices and an ever more diverse range. The answer lies in addition, not subtraction.

If there is any institution that knows the difficulties and the importance of championing the orthodox and the unorthodox, it is the Christian Church. As I say, today’s debate is part of an Advent tradition—the season in which we await the arrival of that great disruptor, the child who would go on to rebuke the Pharisees, draw the ire of the Roman Empire, and inspire the devotion of new followers for more than two millennia. We have heard from noble Lords of all faiths and none but, because that is the reason that the most reverend Primate is here in your Lordships’ House and has been able to give us this debate, this is an appropriate point with which to conclude my remarks. I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate.