My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, has reminded us a number of times in this House of the need for suitable press regulation, and she has some interesting arguments. I am grateful for the time she took earlier this week to meet me and explain her perspective and concerns. However, the position remains that the Government cannot accept her Amendment 50A. The Government support objective,
high-quality journalism and a free press. We are committed to ensuring there is a sustainable, effective business model for high-quality media. Of course, we also need a fair system and this Bill is designed to strike a fair balance between individual privacy rights and the right to freedom of expression. The noble Lords, Lord Lester and Lord Pannick, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, have just alluded to the requirement in law for us to maintain that balance. I do not seek to repeat that, but I gladly adopt the observations they made about the need for balance in the context of convention rights with regard to privacy and freedom of expression.
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The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, suggested that we approach this in a cool and considered way. I entirely endorse that suggestion. He has told us several times in recent weeks that he believes that the data protection regime that applies to the press, as found in the 1998 Act, has worked well. We agree. If we maintain that common bond, I hope that noble Lords will understand why we cannot accept the amendments that have been proposed.
Amendment 50A would amend the special purposes exemption so as to make it available only where the processing of data is necessary for publication. The noble Baroness, Lady Cavendish, and the noble Lord, Lord Finkelstein, have both made clear why that would be so intrusive on investigative journalism. “Necessary” is a powerful word where it appears in an Act of Parliament. In our view, it would be effectively destructive of journalistic freedom.
Furthermore, Amendment 50A would limit the exemption to where the likely interference with privacy resulting from the processing of the data is outweighed by the public interest in publication. This shifts the weighting against the right of freedom of expression. We believe that the existing balance is right, as expressed in the 1998 Act. If we tamper with it, information that is in the public interest will be buried due to the data protection regime that is in place. That is not how a free press operates. The special importance of the public interest in the freedom of expression is explicitly stated in sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 24 of Schedule 2. One cannot read that alongside Amendment 50A and make sense of it; it is as simple as that. The two pull against each other.
I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, would agree that the balance of rights achieved in the 1998 Act is fair. Against that background, I come on to look at the other amendments. The noble Lord has indicated that he will not press Amendment 55. I make two points with regard to that which touch on matters addressed also by the noble Lord, Lord Low. First, there is now an amendment that introduces the requirement to consult the Information Commissioner. Over and above that, Clause 113(3) gives the commissioner the duty to advise government and the power to give opinions on her own initiative, so that is already covered by the Bill.
The noble Lord, Lord Low, spoke to Amendment 58 on behalf of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill. I am not sure whether it is intentional or accidental, but the
amendment would entirely cut out the commissioner from the process of approving codes. That is simply not an appropriate way forward. While it is true that any approved regulator has, by definition, met the criteria set out in the royal charter on press regulation, it does not necessarily equate to meeting the standards required by the Information Commissioner regarding balancing privacy with freedom of expression. The Information Commissioner has to be in that loop, if I can put it that way. Nobody is excluding the Impress code. The three codes which appear in the schedules of the present Bill are those which appear in the 1998 Act and they have worked well. People have referred to the IPSA code. We have taken out reference to IPSA; it was inappropriate, as I acknowledged when speaking to the government amendment. It is the Editors’ Code of Practice. Impress has contacted the Government about its own code and sought to put it before them. In due course the Government will have to address that. There is a regulatory regime and that will involve the Information Commissioner again. It is simply a matter of taking that road in order to determine, at the end of the day, what codes are appropriate and what codes are not. It appears to me that while some may feel that this straightforward set of provisions are being hijacked for an ulterior purpose, I can understand what drives people in this context: it is a concern to see a suitable outcome, not only for the press but for the individual. We recognise the importance of that balance.
The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, alluded to an amendment he was advertising for the beginning of next year by which this debate can be taken forward, but it is not in the context of the present proposed amendments. I am obliged to the noble Lord for agreeing with me on that. I therefore urge noble Lords not to press these amendments.