Edward Vaizey MP

Edward Vaizey MP (Conservative) MP for Wantage. A former speechwriter; ex- director of a PR company; barrister; freelance journalist and broadcaster; book editor. He has a degree in History from Oxford.

Copyright

Written question Internet: Copyright 17 October 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills and Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on the implementation of recommendation 39 of the Gowers Review, on internet service providers' responsibility for copyright theft.

Identity cards

Signed Early Day Motion 263 Identity Cards 06 June 2005

That this House believes that a convincing case for the introduction of compulsory biometric identity cards and a national database has not been made, that the risks involved far outweigh any discernible benefit, that the introduction of identity cards will fundamentally change the relationship between the citizen and the state, diminish personal privacy and threaten civil liberties, that the present proposals do not provide properly costed, proportionate or effective solutions to the problems they are claimed to solve; and calls upon the Government to shelve plans for their introduction.

Internet Censorship

Signed an Early Day Motion Freedom of Expression and the UN Internet Governance Forum 30 October 2006

That this House notes with concern that internet repression is hampering freedom of expression across the world especially in Iran, Vietnam, the Maldives and China; urges companies in China, including Microsoft, Google and Yahoo, to reveal which words they have banned from blogs or have filtered out of web searches; requests that they make public all their agreements with the Chinese authorities and publicly call for the release of cyber-dissidents jailed for expressing peaceful opinions online; welcomes Amnesty International's irrepressible.info campaign to ensure that the internet remains a tool for political freedom, not repression; and urges the UK Government to make strong representations at the UN Internet Governance Forum in Athens in November to ensure that the internet remains a tool for the free flow of information and respect for human rights and that freedom of expression is a key component to any future agreement on internet governance.

Freedom of Information

Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006

That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.

News

2007-11-26 - Ed Vaizey Blog - Will the Internet Change Politics?: Author: Edward Vaizey MP; Summary: I enjoyed the editor of The Spectator Matthew d’Ancona’s talk on the Westminster Hour last night about how the internet will change politics. Matthew thinks it will change politics fundamentally, but I disagree ... The web is a new medium, but it won’t change politics. If anything it will make politics more distant. If politicians are going to be secretly filmed and shoved on You Tube, you will simply get more stage-managed events. The internet hasn’t changed my life politically, except I get a few more letters because it is easier to send an e-mail than lick a stamp. We have been doing democracy along roughly the same lines (give or take the size of the electorate) since the ancient Greeks, and will continue to do so for centuries to come.

2007-05-21 - Ed Vaizey Blog - Freedom of Information: an apology: Author: Edward Vaizey MP; Summary: I wasn’t in the Commons on Friday to vote against the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill. My habit is to spend Fridays doing things in the constituency, and I honestly never believed the Bill would get through. My mistake - though my vote would not have stopped it. I have learned a lesson and hope I don’t make the same mistake again.