British Board of Film Classification (Accountability to Parliament and Appeals) Bill

One characteristic of our debate earlier was that hon. Members declared their interest in respect of the number of children they had. My hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr. Newmark), for example, pointed out that he had five children. In that vein, may I point out that I have one child aged 17 months, but that, more importantly, I have another child due this very leap day. It is thus a measure of my commitment to hearing the arguments of my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) that I am in my place in the House rather than in the maternity ward. Perhaps I should say that my wife is not yet in the maternity ward either! Clearly, my soon-to-be-born daughter has already taken on board the precedence of Parliament over all other issues. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury on introducing the Bill and on giving the House the opportunity to debate some extremely important issues. Indeed, by the time our debate concludes, some five hours after it began, we may well have discussed the matter for longer than is often the case on Second Reading of many public Bills. Before commenting on some of the important matters raised in the debate, I would like to put some other points in context. Because the Bill focuses on the working of the British Board of Film Classification and much wider concerns about the increasingly violent and sexual content of video games and films, we may have lost sight of some the merits of the current system. I want to put it on the record that, by and large, I believe that the BBFC does an extremely good job. It is one of those rare bodies that costs the taxpayer absolutely nothing and it rarely takes up much parliamentary time. Having visited the BBFC, I know that it is staffed by very dedicated men and women who take their job extremely seriously. It is important for the House to recognise that the organisation largely does a very good job. That is not to dismiss the valid points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury, nor to say that no changes could be made to make it even more effective. As we have focused on the rather seamier side of the film and video games industries, it is important again to put on record the astonishing success of those industries, none of which is due to the Minister. I want to ensure that that is absolutely clear; we do not want to give the Government any credit for it at all. We have an extremely successful film industry in this country, and the recent Oscars and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts ceremony showed what kind of awards it can garner. The video games industry is often the Cinderella and is rarely debated in the House, if at all, but it is now worth an astonishing £8 billion a year. It is a successful industry, alongside those in France, Canada and the United States. That has to be put in context. Nevertheless, the regulation of films and video remains an incredibly important and sensitive function. As has been clear from today's debate, we have to strike a balance between protecting people, and children in particular, from viewing harmful and offensive content, and allowing freedom of artistic expression. As has also become clear during the debate, that has never been under greater strain than it is today because of huge technological advances and people's ability to watch unsuitable material on all sorts of different platforms. One sometimes feels a bit like King Canute, trying to stop the tide of this material as it seeps into more and more different outlets in our homes. In September, the Government, as has been mentioned many times today, commissioned the Byron review to consider how children might be protected from inappropriate content. No doubt, Tanya Byron, a celebrity psychologist—thus, the Prime Minister's self-imposed ordinance on dealing with celebrities is being breached—will produce an important report, which is due in March. The House should also know that my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron), the Leader of the Opposition, has made a strong stand on matters of this kind. In a speech last year, which I think my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury referred to, my right hon. Friend said:"““Companies which make music videos, films and computer games have a social responsibility not to promote casual violence, the gang culture and the degradation of women.””" Last year, the Conservative party made an unequivocal commitment to"““review the regulatory framework relating to films and video games to ensure that violence and misogyny are not directly promoted to young people. This should include the role of the British Board of Film Classification””." So, we do not yet know the Government's position, and we certainly do not know the Prime Minister's position, but we do know that the Conservative party is committed to reviewing the role of the BBFC. Turning to the specific proposals in the Bill, our film classification system works on two levels: it protects consumers by removing the most extreme films and games from circulation, so a film can be banned outright, and it classifies content according to age groups for which it is suitable. The BBFC carries out both functions. The organisation was established as long ago as 1912, and as I mentioned it has been financed ever since at no cost to the taxpayer. It is separate from the Government and from Parliament. However, Parliament has given it the function of classifying video games and videos through the Video Recordings Act 1984, which, as far as I can work out, is the only role it has in that respect. I think that there was perhaps some confusion when the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) made his comments. Parliament has not given itself the power to appoint members of the BBFC, but simply has the power to designate that body as the body responsible—