Amos: Parliament should communicate better
Rules governing the way in which parliament is reported should be relaxed, the leader of the House of Lords has said.
Baroness Amos was speaking at the beginning of a debate into the recommendations of a report published by the Hansard Society last May, which called for parliamentary debate to be made more accessible to the general public.
She said she supported the idea of a more open parliament and added: “I do think that the whole issue of the relationship of the media and the interpretation of political events in our country is something which perhaps one of the committees in this house might consider looking at in more depth.”
With Parliament TV’s contract coming up for renewal next year, she also said it was an “opportunity to look again at the rules to see if they are too narrowly drawn”.
But Ms Amos warned that hers was a “lone voice” and that the whole of the Lords would have to get behind the proposals if things were to change.
At present, cameras are allowed to film in both Houses but broadcasting restrictions mean that reaction shots, close-ups and behind-the-scenes footage are prohibited.
The Hansard Society report suggests that parliament embraces new ways of attracting a new generation of voters, in particular through the use of the internet.
Ms Amos expressed support for proposals such as committees hosting online debates, as well as the idea of Lords holding debates around the country.
Lord Puttnam, who chaired the Hansard Society commission which published the report, argued in the chamber yesterday that “a step change” was required to ensure that parliament did not fall further behind the times.
“The pace and in some cases the nature of changes happening in society are occurring so rapidly that even our best efforts at incremental change leave us running in order to standstill,” he said.
“More often than not we are actually falling behind public expectations.”
Former education secretary Estelle Morris agreed, and made the point that if parliament was a school it would already have been put in “special measures”.
But others remained more sceptical, with former Tory chancellor Lord Howe saying that the substance of parliament was more important than its image.
He claimed that parliament was becoming “ever less respected” due to the interference of the Labour government.
“That is one of the reasons people feel they have lost ownership of parliament.it has been hijacked by the executive,” he declared.
But former tv producer Baroness Bonham Carter said the public should be able to “experience the drama” of parliament.
“People love going backstage but we don’t allow them to here – and it is a stage that belongs to them just as much as it belongs to the politicians,” she said.
“This is a place that deserves a better press, from the press and the public, but to get it we have to loosen up.”
