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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I more than understand what the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, is aiming at. I have considerable sympathy with the point. However, as someone who has much admired the efforts of the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, in regard to the Communications Act, ensuring that the citizen and the consumer had some degree of balance and that they were shown to have different needs and interests, it would be good to have that carried through to this Bill. From time to time, I have been equally critical of Ofcom for just that reason—not paying sufficient attention to content matters. Of course, I have a different sympathy in that respect because subsection (2)(b), as has already been said by the right reverend Prelate, is a very important aspect. We must ensure the continued availability, which we in the United Kingdom are used to, of high quality public service media content in many of the areas which some of us here today are currently looking at—children's programmes, drama and so on. Equally, the noble Lord, Lord Steel, made a very important point. I, too, live in one of the completely hopeless reception areas. Enough gigabytes need to be available so that the level is acceptable right across the country. I fear that we did not have enough gigabytes in the first place so that we could compete with countries such as Japan and so on. That is one of the problems with which we have to live. In the mean time, I hope that the good aspects of the clause will not be removed totally because of our shared feelings. I shall be neutral in my support, one way or the other, until we hear what the Minister has to say.