UK Parliament / Open data

Online Safety Bill

Proceeding contribution from Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Tuesday, 19 September 2023. It occurred during Debate on bills on Online Safety Bill.

My Lords, I am very conscious that this is not the end of the road. As noble Lords have rightly pointed out in wishing the Bill well, attention now moves very swiftly to Ofcom, under the able chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Grade of Yarmouth, who has participated, albeit silently, in our proceedings before, and to the team of officials who stand ready to implement this swiftly. The Bill benefited from pre-legislative scrutiny. A number of noble Lords who have spoken throughout our deliberations took part in the Joint Committee of both Houses which did that. It will also benefit from post-legislative scrutiny, through the Secretary of State’s review, which will take place between two and five years after Royal Assent. I know that the noble Lords who have worked so hard on this Bill for many years will be watching it closely as it becomes an Act of Parliament, to ensure that it delivers what we all want it to.

The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, reminded us of the challenge he set us at Second Reading: to minimise the votes in dissent and to deliver this Bill without pushing anything to ping-pong. I think I was not the only one in the Chamber who was sceptical about our ability to do so, but it is thanks to the collaborative approach and the tone that he has set that we have been able to do that. That is a credit to everybody involved.

3.45 pm

I am conscious that the noble Lord is just one of many people in both Houses who have followed the Bill very closely since it was first published in draft in May 2021, and indeed since the White Paper was published in April 2019. No shortage of people in both Houses have devoted many hours to considering

and improving it, informed of course by the discussions and correspondence they have had with countless people from beyond your Lordships’ House. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, is right to draw our attention to those watching, both here and at home, and who have high hopes for the Bill. No shortage of Ministers have played its part in listening to those representations and steering the Bill through Parliament. It is a privilege to be the last one to do so, to have the final word and to say, for one last time, that I beg to move.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
832 cc1342-3 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Back to top