My Lords, I am pleased to speak in general support of the regulations and guidance. They relate to matters which I and others raised during the passage of the Digital Economy Bill in 2017 and, more broadly, to issues debated by the House a couple of years ago in a...

My Lords, I am pleased to speak in general support of the regulations and guidance. They relate to matters which I and others raised during the passage of the Digital Economy Bill in 2017 and, more broadly, to issues debated by the House a couple of years ago in a...

From these Benches, I support the Government and the way in which the legislation has been drafted, provided that it is enacted and applied with the flexibility that the Minister is describing. I do not do so in the spirit of being too puritanical, I hope. Living in the middle...

From these Benches, I support the Government and the way in which the legislation has been drafted, provided that it is enacted and applied with the flexibility that the Minister is describing. I do not do so in the spirit of being too puritanical, I hope. Living in the middle...

My Lords, I agree with everything that has been said so far. I want to pick up on what the noble Baroness, Lady Stern, was saying. The figures for youth suicide in this country are an absolute scandal. The number of young people who commit suicide every year is equivalent...

My Lords, I agree with everything that has been said so far. I want to pick up on what the noble Baroness, Lady Stern, was saying. The figures for youth suicide in this country are an absolute scandal. The number of young people who commit suicide every year is equivalent...

To use what most people would find offensive as a central criterion is too subjective. We live in a society where we have a diverse range of tastes; there are lots of things I do not like at all but which are legal in this society. It is interesting that...

To use what most people would find offensive as a central criterion is too subjective. We live in a society where we have a diverse range of tastes; there are lots of things I do not like at all but which are legal in this society. It is interesting that...

I want to offer some general support to the Government for what they are attempting to do with these clauses. To bring pressure to bear in our society on the extraordinary explosion of what we might generally call pornographic images seems to me to be laudable and right. I share...

I want to offer some general support to the Government for what they are attempting to do with these clauses. To bring pressure to bear in our society on the extraordinary explosion of what we might generally call pornographic images seems to me to be laudable and right. I share...

I strongly support the amendments, especially the second one. To put any formal limit on the time when application may be made for compensation is flawed in itself, but six years would be better than two. As the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, said so eloquently, there is no moral equivalence...

I strongly support the amendments, especially the second one. To put any formal limit on the time when application may be made for compensation is flawed in itself, but six years would be better than two. As the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, said so eloquently, there is no moral equivalence...

To ensure that the record is accurate, the noble Lord is right to say that there was no contact whatever between me and the police, which was interesting at the time. However, partly supporting his point, the police seemed to assume that the newspaper report was accurate without making any...

To ensure that the record is accurate, the noble Lord is right to say that there was no contact whatever between me and the police, which was interesting at the time. However, partly supporting his point, the police seemed to assume that the newspaper report was accurate without making any...

I entirely share the intention of the mover of the amendment, but the question is whether and why one should single out this form of threat and put it in the Bill. Once you start to do that, you lose the whole basis on which the legislation has been framed,...

I entirely share the intention of the mover of the amendment, but the question is whether and why one should single out this form of threat and put it in the Bill. Once you start to do that, you lose the whole basis on which the legislation has been framed,...

I would say only that I believe this demonstration of freedom of speech is exactly what your Lordships expect.

I would say only that I believe this demonstration of freedom of speech is exactly what your Lordships expect.

I pretty much agreed with what the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, said when he introduced this debate, although I am not entirely convinced that the amendment would be helpful. I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, about the importance of freedom of speech, but in any society free...

I pretty much agreed with what the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, said when he introduced this debate, although I am not entirely convinced that the amendment would be helpful. I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, about the importance of freedom of speech, but in any society free...

Before the noble and learned Lord sits down, I thank him for his earlier explanation. I accept that if the Crown Prosecution Service is seen as the driver of the system, it protects the police from being seen as junior magistrates, although maintaining that distinction will be very important. However,...

Before the noble and learned Lord sits down, I thank him for his earlier explanation. I accept that if the Crown Prosecution Service is seen as the driver of the system, it protects the police from being seen as junior magistrates, although maintaining that distinction will be very important. However,...

When I read Clause 15 I was saddened, for the reasons that have been given in this debate. In a week when the Government have pushed through a clear separation between the legislative and judicial aspects of society, it is odd to see the confusions being introduced when punishment is...

When I read Clause 15 I was saddened, for the reasons that have been given in this debate. In a week when the Government have pushed through a clear separation between the legislative and judicial aspects of society, it is odd to see the confusions being introduced when punishment is...

I object even more strongly to the term ““summary justice”” than I do to ““administrative punishment””.

I object even more strongly to the term ““summary justice”” than I do to ““administrative punishment””.

I wonder whether I could press the Minister on this point by asking for some definition of the word ““know””. Does it mean beyond reasonable doubt, the balance of probabilities or reasonable suspicion? It would be helpful to know a little bit about what the word ““know”” means in this context.

I wonder whether I could press the Minister on this point by asking for some definition of the word ““know””. Does it mean beyond reasonable doubt, the balance of probabilities or reasonable suspicion? It would be helpful to know a little bit about what the word ““know”” means in this context.

: I want to press on an associated matter, picking up on a point made earlier by the noble Baroness, Lady Williams: that while a defence may be mounted, the whole process of investigation and police inquiry, even short of a court case, will have quite a marked effect upon academic...

: I want to press on an associated matter, picking up on a point made earlier by the noble Baroness, Lady Williams: that while a defence may be mounted, the whole process of investigation and police inquiry, even short of a court case, will have quite a marked effect upon academic...