The powerful boss of Parliament’s media committee has demanded the Met formally withdraws the chilling threat to prosecute journalists for reporting the contest of secret memos. Speaking to The Sun, Damian Collins also called for Scotland Yard to issue a fresh statement to reassure newspapers that they are free to report leaked documents. And the chairman […]
Video game 'loot boxes' are as bad as roulette wheels and are encouraging children to gamble, MPs have said. Members of the Culture Select Committee accused the Government of being “complacent” over the features, which they said were exposing children "to all the emotions of gambling". In an at times tense hearing, digital minister Margot James told […]
Last week the House of Commons marked the 40th anniversary of the creation of select committees to scrutinise the work of individual government departments. I chair one of these – digital, culture, media and sport – but the scope of its work has extended beyond holding individual ministers to account. We now investigate much wider issues […]
Witnesses who refuse to give evidence before parliament could be fined or face a “real-world sanction” in the future, a select committee chair has warned. Writing in the Observer days after the presenter Jeremy Kyle chose not to appear before his committee’s inquiry into reality television, Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, says new powers are […]
I was shocked to see the result this week of the investigation by the water and sewage regulator Ofwat, into Southern Water’s business practices over a seven-year period, from 2010 to 2017. The company has been hit with a record fine of £126m as a punishment for spills of wastewater into the environment from its […]
The Jeremy Kyle Show's bosses have been criticised by MPs for putting guests through lie detector tests without knowing how accurate those tests were. Damian Collins MP, chair of the House of Commons culture select committee, said the producers' lack of expert knowledge was "astonishing". The committee opened an inquiry after Kyle's show was axed […]
ITV chiefs came under fire today in Parliament over alleged “exploitation” of guests on the Jeremy Kyle Show. The Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee demanded answers over how participants were selected, the accuracy of lie detector tests and guests reportedly signing away their rights over how they were represented on the show. ITV had asked the […]
It’s Sunday 14th July 2030 and the eyes of the world turn to Wembley, to see goals from Phil Foden, Mason Greenwood and Trent Alexander Arnold win the FIFA World Cup for England. Thirty-four years after Frank Skinner and David Baddiel first put the idea to music, the nation that gave football to the world […]
This week the Conservative Party Members of Parliament will choose the final two candidates to be its new leader and our next Prime Minister. There will then follow a ballot of all party members across the country to choose the winner; this election is due to be completed by 20th July. At the time of […]
The makers of Fortnite, one of the most popular video games ever, have been quizzed by MPs over what measures are taken to protect players of the game. Epic Games representatives were asked how it ensured users did not spend too much time or money on the game. Legal counsel Canon Pence said this was […]