House of Lords
Thursday, 25th April 2002.
The House met at three of the clock (Prayers having been read earlier at the Judicial Sitting by the Lord Bishop of Bradford): The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
The Marquess of Cholmondeley—Took the Oath.
Arab Commercial Television Operators
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will meet overseas-based Arab commercial television operators to discuss the potential for the transmission of news programmes and documentaries in the English language by satellite throughout the United Kingdom.
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the Government have not met overseas Arab commercial television operators. For the most part, they present general Arabic entertainment programming. We are aware that Al-Jazeera, a dedicated news and documentary channel, is examining the costs—and the means of meeting them—of providing a simultaneous English translation of its key programmes. As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said in a Commons Written Answer on 14th November last, this is entirely an editorial—and, I might add, a commercial—decision for Al-Jazeera.
Lord Campbell-Savours: My Lords, is my noble friend prepared to meet—or to ask other Ministers to meet—the Emir of Qatar, who owns Al-Jazeera, and ask him whether he might be prepared to contribute to funding this very important news service?
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the House will recognise that it would scarcely be appropriate for me to put myself forward in such a role. I emphasise to my noble friend that this is a commercial issue for Al-Jazeera. We recognise the merits of Al-Jazeera having a degree of independence and balance about its programmes, which are wholly to be commended. We recognise the value of that service to Arabic speakers and potentially to people in this country. However, we are talking about a commercial and editorial decision by a private station and it is for those who run that station to proceed as they see best.
Lord McNally: My Lords, will the Minister clarify what he has said? He has emphasised a couple of times that these are commercial and editorial decisions. Does that mean that any regime or any country that had the will could buy itself on to satellite and start broadcasting to this country?
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, it does not mean that. Before any broadcaster could do so, it would need
to obtain a licence under the criteria laid down by the licensing authority. It is not a free market to quite the extent that the noble Lord suggests. I am emphasising the editorial and financial decisions of Al-Jazeera, because we are talking about the cost of effective translation of its programmes, which are already broadcast to the United Kingdom for those who understand Arabic. My noble friend is asking whether the Government should play a part in providing support or encouraging others to do so. That is the question to which I have addressed my answers.
Lord Taylor of Blackburn: My Lords, we have a Department of Trade and Industry, which is there to assist people who want to trade in this country. Surely my noble friend's request is a reasonable one for people who want to trade here. If not a Minister, one of the officials in the Department of Trade and Industry should be willing to meet the gentlemen concerned.
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am not here to speak on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry. As my noble friend has said, the department is busy on many issues with which I confess that I have only limited acquaintance. I understand what my noble friend is saying. We clearly recognise the value of the station. We also appreciate that significant costs are involved in broadcasting in English in this country. There are also potential benefits to British people from the extension of understanding that such broadcasts would provide. Some help may be possible, but I cannot accept the requests for direct representations at government level on the issue.
Lord Roberts of Conwy: My Lords, pursuant to his answer to the noble Lord, Lord McNally, is the Minister saying that every satellite broadcaster whose transmissions are currently receivable in this country is licensed to do so?
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, all broadcasters have to meet the requirements of the licensing authority covering the whole of Europe. The permission for Al-Jazeera to broadcast in Europe is granted by the French authorities, because it broadcasts predominantly to France—and in French. That is the basis of broadcasts to this country, too. The station is seeking to provide a service in the United Kingdom, involving additional cost. It meets the requirements of the licensing authority. The issue with regard to English language costs, as I persist in emphasising, is a commercial decision for the board of Al-Jazeera.
Lord Avebury: My Lords, is the Minister aware that BBC Monitoring already provides English language translations of many of the most important broadcasts on Al-Jazeera and other Arab broadcasters and that these are available at very economical rates to commercial users? Will the Government encourage people who need to know what is being thought about in the Arab world to subscribe to BBC Monitoring?
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, as I have said, we recognise the value of Al-Jazeera. As the noble Lord
has said, that is emphasised in particular ways in terms of the monitoring service of the BBC. I emphasise that a number of journalists from Al-Jazeera were previously journalists with the BBC World Service, so it is an entirely reputable organisation. I see no difficulty in acceding to what the noble Lord is saying. Of course we would encourage all in this country who need to understand issues in the Muslim and Arab world to take advantage of these opportunities. We all recognise that the nation as a whole needs to understand these matters more fully than perhaps has been the case in the past.
Baroness Whitaker: My Lords, I declare an interest as the deputy chair of the Independent Television Commission. Is my noble friend aware that perhaps as many as half a million people in the UK listen to Al-Jazeera's broadcasts in Arabic? Would it not be in the public interest if non-Arabic speakers were able to listen to what Al-Jazeera says as well?
Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I hear what my noble friend has said. She is absolutely right that the station broadcasts successfully to a large number of people in this country who can understand its programmes in Arabic. As I said earlier, I do not doubt for one moment the benefits of people being able to appreciate the information that Al-Jazeera can communicate. However, the process by which that is done and the costs involved should be attributable not to the Government, but to the private broadcasting organisation.
Farming and Food
3.9 p.m.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will produce a formal response to the report of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, indicating how they intend to take forward the recommendations therein; and whether they have calculated the costs of doing so.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): My Lords, the Government propose to produce a strategy for sustainable food in farming in England in the early autumn. The strategy will incorporate a definitive response to the policy commission's recommendations, although not all those fall to, or involve expenditure by, the Government. The Government will also be in a position to quantify the total cost of delivering the strategy once the 2002 spending review has been concluded.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer, and I know he is working hard to ensure quick progress on some parts of the strategy. However, people in rural communities
find it depressing that last week's Budget failed to mention the pump-priming money that is so urgently needed to ensure that progress is made this summer. There has also been no evidence so far that the DTI plans to enforce the supermarket code although such action is desperately needed. I hope that other government departments mentioned in the report—such as the Department for Education and Skills, in relation to apprenticeships—will sign up to the strategy with the same enthusiasm which the Minister says his department feels. How often are the various departments meeting, and are they as committed to the strategy as his department?
Lord Whitty: My Lords, following through on the Curry commission report is a matter for the Government as a whole. Therefore, all the departments to which the noble Baroness referred are engaged in determining how best to deliver the report's various recommendations, and are submitting proposals involving spending to the spending review. The Government's approach was symbolised by the fact that, a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister himself held a seminar on the report. It has never been indicated that expenditure on the proposals would be allocated in the Budget; indeed, the report was timed so that it could feed into the 2002 spending review. That point has always been clear, from the report's commencement to its issue.
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