Media Green Paper

Lord Archbishop of York Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Archbishop of York]

My Lords, none of us underestimates how hard it will be to preserve and protect the place of what we must now call public service media in this new world, but I would contend that it is impossible to understand our world at the moment if we do not understand the place of faith in the affairs of the world. It is impossible to understand our own nation’s culture, literature and law without understanding the place of faith; I do not think we can understand ourselves without it. But I notice that, in the Green Paper, there is little or perhaps no mention of the place of faith, which has always been such an important part of the public service broadcasting economy. I wonder whether the Minister would like to mention—I know how difficult it is—what steps are being taken to make sure this is preserved.

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I will feed the right reverend Prelate’s point back. I think it is a really interesting point. I know that having knowledge of the Bible and Bible stories meant that I was much better equipped to understand literature. I think there is that cultural aspect, as well as the faith aspect, to it. The main thrust of the paper was around making sure nobody was left behind in the move towards digital, but I will feed those points back.