Leveson Inquiry

My hon. Friend is right. Many of us want to make sure that we have a thriving press into the futu...

As the Secretary of State knows, when the Leveson inquiry was set up on 13 July last year, it was...

I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will know that it is not possible for us to give a timetable f...

Will the Minister explain how the new body that she envisages could possibly have any powers if i...

The hon. Gentleman will, I know, take a full part in the debate. I ask him to reflect a little. W...

My right hon. Friend said that if the press do not respond, the Government will take action. If t...

My right hon. and learned Friend sets out clearly what he sees as the key principles contained in...

We live in one of the least corrupt societies on earth, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend a...

My hon. Friend is right, although I remind him that we must ensure that we do not end up with the...

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I will give way to the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw) and then to my hon. Friend the ...

The right hon. and learned Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) asked whether the Secretar...

I can be crystal clear, as indeed was the Prime Minister last week: yes, we will take action alon...

My right hon. Friend has said that the Government accept Leveson’s proposals and that, in the eve...

I will answer that point very briefly, although I am sure that it will be subject to much debate ...

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If I could make some progress, I might answer some of the questions that hon. Members are trying ...

I endorse the Secretary of State’s view entirely; I do not think there is a great deal of differe...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. He may or may not be aware that we are already midw...

The debate seems to be polarising between favouring legislation or no legislation. Given that Lev...

The right hon. Gentleman is right. The point of discussion today should be the fact that the Leve...

How would making a newspaper journalist a regulated person with a licence stop future abuse given...

My right hon. Friend has given an example that we can all reflect on. I also bring to his attenti...

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Will Opposition Members give me a few moments to make a little progress?

Who can say what a...

I was very disappointed that on another issue—one of tremendous constitutional importance—we were...

I hope that there will be no votes on the issue, because what we need is consensus. We need to mo...

One of my constituents was not reappointed as director general of the Office of Fair Trading beca...

I understand fully my hon. Friend’s point, although I draw his attention to the fact that, while ...

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I would like to make a final point about Ofcom, if hon. Members will allow me. Lord Leveson state...

My right hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way. Will she consider the fact that most o...

My hon. Friend raises an important point. Leveson’s report brings out fully the importance of eth...

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I want to make some progress, because I know that many right hon. and hon. Members want to contri...

Thousands of excellent local and regional journalists will be affected by the changes to the regu...

I will certainly listen very carefully to the concerns of the local press. As I said earlier, we ...

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I will make a little more progress.

We have not wasted time since last Thursday. Following ...

I thank the Secretary of State for her generosity in giving way to Opposition Members. I agree wi...

I agree that we need an independent self-regulatory system that can be overseen and is seen to be...

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I will just finish my point, and then I will give way to a few of my hon. Friends who have been t...

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way so generously. It is becoming difficult to follow the...

I understand my hon. and learned Friend’s intervention, but I carefully draw his attention to the...

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I will give way to two more hon. Members, and then I will conclude my remarks.

I was interested in the Minister’s comments about January. For the benefit of my constituents and...

I will give my hon. Friend a much firmer idea about that once I have met the editors tomorrow. Th...

The Minister has spoken about wanting to look forward to a healthy newspaper industry. Does she a...

My hon. Friend raises an important point about the future of the press and ensuring that it is ec...

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I will give way to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), and then I ...

Although it is clear that the provisions in the Leveson report on the backing up of self-regulati...

The right hon. Gentleman has made his point extremely clearly, and he is right that we must come ...

I thank the Secretary of State for affording the House the opportunity to have this debate. Last ...

Does the right hon. and learned Lady recognise that the inquiry was set up because of two scandal...

The inquiry was set up—I congratulate the Prime Minister on setting it up, and my right hon. Frie...

I am sure the right hon. and learned Lady remembers that the inquiry was established because of a...

Lord Leveson actually said he was not going to look into whether there had been a breach of the m...

Will the right hon. and learned Lady confirm that her comments so far relate only to national med...

It would be quite possible within Lord Leveson’s framework for the local press to set up their ow...

Will my right hon. and learned Friend please rebut the myth that the report looked only at crimin...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point.

The right hon. and learned Lady has a strong and honourable history on this matter. Earlier this ...

Indeed, and that is why one of Lord Leveson’s proposals, which we think justifies the support of ...

Will the right hon. and learned Lady please be careful about not overstating the need for statuto...

We should make the case for statute, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that it should be...

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I will press on with my comments, because many hon. Members want to speak.

That is the core...

I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Lady for giving way. Does she agree that under Lord L...

That is a very good point, and I wish I had thought of it myself. [Laughter.] I think, in fact, i...

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I will let the Culture Secretary intervene in a moment. She says that she fundamentally objects t...

I was just going to ask the right hon. and learned Lady how many cases had been brought under the...

So it’s working!

I am not quite sure what point the right hon. Lady is trying to make—I will have to think about t...

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Order. In view of the large number of right hon. and hon. Members seeking to catch my eye, I have...

Over the past five years, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which I chair, has exami...

So far as the breaches of the criminal law are concerned, will my hon. Friend confirm that, if a ...

I am not sure that I would say their case is irrelevant, because it plainly provided evidence of ...

The point, surely, is that the Press Complaints Commission was part of the problem. It was self-r...

It may surprise the hon. Gentleman to know that I agree with him. There is no question but that a...

Victims have been mentioned many times today. Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me that it is sa...

It is our job in this House to persuade the victims that what is now in prospect is a different r...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

My hon. Friend was a member of the Committee who I know did not agree with that particular conclu...

On precisely that point, a number of us here who sat on the Committee did indeed disagree with th...

I think I have the figures. My hon. Friend is absolutely right: the Committee divided at the end—...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that protecting journalists’ sources is a fundamental principle of ...

I agree. I think that there are serious practical problems with some of Lord Leveson’s recommenda...

Is it not more important for us to establish total public confidence, which has been shattered ov...

Of course it is important for us to establish public confidence. What we need to do is persuade t...

Is it not the case that the proposed legal and financial incentives to be offered to the press wo...

I think I have already dealt with that, but the right hon. Gentleman is right. Lord Hunt himself ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) may have slightly misquot...

I have very little time left. I could probably spend another hour discussing the whole issue of p...

Order.

— an independent regulatory body—

Order. The hon. Gentleman must not test the patience of the Chair. A great many other Members wis...

When Sir David Calcutt produced his second report in 1992, he was damning in his criticism of the...

Mr Kavanagh might have had in mind the proposal on page 1780 of the report, which Sir Brian Leves...

I hope the hon. Lady makes better points than that if she is called to make a speech in this deba...

Will the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that Lord Hunt asked for a similar provision to that in...

The hon. Gentleman and I must be reading two different Acts, because section 44 of that Act conta...

In 2007, I was confronted by a journalist whose newspaper is subject to those regulations. I was ...

It does indeed have teeth. I am afraid that the Secretary of State scored an own goal when she im...

May I begin by declaring an interest as a practising member of the defamation and media law Bar? ...

By TV.

As it happens, I have over the past 35—[Interruption.] Does my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk...

Yes. I would just like to point out that in the case of the person for whom my hon. and learned F...

I think I might be permitted to know a little more about that case than my hon. Friend does. As i...

Did not Lord Justice Leveson say that criminality on an industrial scale was itself part of a per...

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Order. Shorter interventions would be helpful. I know that two knights want to exchange views, bu...

I agree with the premise of my hon. Friend’s point but think that we perhaps draw different concl...

Lord Justice Leveson’s approach is to argue that regulation must be independent not only of the p...

I do not have to reconcile it, because I find the answer on page 1,780 in part K of the report. I...

I was a staff journalist for 10 years. For nine of those years, I worked for the Daily Mirror, wh...

Do not my right hon. Friend’s experience and knowledge and the facts he has just regaled demonstr...

My hon. Friend intervened just as I was about to go on to that very point. Twenty years ago, the ...

Two questions must be asked of any and every proposal for legislation. The first is what problems...

Those of us who have sympathy with Leveson’s case are not seeking to hand over powers. We are see...

I am in favour of the press having better standards but the best form of regulation is what we sa...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not at the moment. Lord Leveson proposes giving a state regulator the power and duty every...

I have an objection in principle to a statutory body or a body underpinned by statute both making...

Exactly; that is very much what I fear if the statutory body, following its own prejudices, deter...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I am afraid I will give way only if the hon. Gentleman apologises for the way in which he has tra...

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No. I am not giving way to the hon. Gentleman.

The House should think seriously about setti...

As hon. Members know, the press of late have come in for some knocking—justifiably—for scandal, c...

We have heard a great deal about the great and good so far in this debate, and it has been intere...

Having read large parts of the report—it is a carefully constructed document that has evaluated t...

We just might disagree.

Others may disagree, of course—that is why we are having the debate. I respect the fact that othe...

The right hon. Gentleman has just confirmed what I was hoping he would say—that he feels that the...

Yes, I do—that has been the theme of what I have been saying for the last seven minutes. [Interru...

Does the right hon. Gentleman believe that the Leveson recommendations contain sufficient protect...

Surely it is up to us as parliamentarians to ensure that we build those protections in. There are...

We are having today’s debate because the current system of media self-regulation has not only fai...

One of the principles of this place is, rightly or wrongly, that Parliament is sovereign, but is ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point; I agree with him.

A new statute to make independent ...

Could my hon. Friend produce an example of such a system somewhere other than Finland and Ireland...

I sense that an answer is bubbling up in the speech we will hear from the hon. Member for Rhondda...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith), who made what I tho...

My good friend raised an important point when he quoted Peter Burden. Does he agree that perhaps ...

I am hardly likely to disagree, am I? [Laughter.] Good luck to them, and so say all of us. I am t...

I suppose that what The Spectator and its editor meant was that they would not take part in that ...

They cannot possibly have meant that; otherwise they would not have alluded to all the “other” la...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about such an important issue as the future of press r...

In which case, should that paper be punished?

I am not for one second suggesting the newspaper should be punished. I am merely suggesting that ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not.

Last week Leveson called time at the last chance saloon. The new bar for the pr...

I have a registered interest, including in respect of News International. My family are in receip...

I, too, begin by drawing attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I...

I wonder whether my hon. Friend could describe the problems that these great reviews were looking...

Each and every one of those commissions and inquiries was sparked by the abuse of unaccountable p...

My hon. Friend has criticised the press for the fact that insufficient of them exposed hacking, b...

I do not think Lord Leveson does make that clear. The new body that he recommends would have powe...

My hon. Friend and other colleagues have made much about the need for a change of culture, but do...

I agree and I am coming on to that point. We will deal with the culture by having a credible regu...

It gives me great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice) an...

That criticism surely also applies to the Leader of the Opposition, who after just three or four ...

No, what my right hon. Friend accepted was the central tenet of Lord Leveson’s recommendations, w...

Is it also possible that the Prime Minister was simply saying that it is far too complicated to r...

I was in the House when the Prime Minister made his statement. He was categorical in his oppositi...

I start by paying tribute to Lord Leveson, his staff and those who facilitated the process. The r...

On the basis of my hon. Friend’s analysis, does he think that the House is wrong to take action t...

As was said earlier, much legislation has been put in place to deal with that, yet banks are stil...

If journalists hack phones, they should go to jail. The problem in this instance is not the law, ...

To be honest, I am not sure whether that was within the Leveson inquiry’s remit. The party leader...

I have listened carefully to what hon. Members have said. I have no strongly formed views on what...

It is incredible that we find ourselves rising in Parliament to debate the fundamental issue of p...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does she, like me, fear that if we go down this roa...

I agree that that must be the fear, although I certainly hope that such a proposal would not come...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that Lord Justice Leveson does not understand that primary l...

It would seem that that Lord Leveson has not fully understood that or has not, with the wealth of...

Does my hon. Friend agree that what Lord Leveson does seem to entertain, though, is the point tha...

Indeed. The validating process would happen every two years, which means that there could be oppo...

My hon. Friend mentions the wild west of the internet and the wrongdoing by many of the national ...

I certainly agree that local newspapers play an incredibly important part in all our communities,...

There has been a great deal of debate this evening about the rule of law and how it could have he...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon), who has told harrowing tales ...

I know that the hon. Gentleman takes a deep interest in this subject. Why does he think that no a...

That is a very good point which Lord Leveson tries to address in his report. It ends up being a g...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. May I draw his attention to a very late submission ...

I will certainly take a close look at that. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point.

T...

I draw the attention of Members to my declaration of interests, which includes writing a column f...

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I will give way to the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe, but I will not be able to give way t...

My point is that I have concerns about how the ASA model works, because we can see how through se...

External pressure comes from the public; it is not that politicians are desperate to write elemen...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way, if the hon. Gentleman does not mind.

The first worrying development is...

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the register—I have written a book on corruption at N...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Broadly, one point that Lord Justice Leveson hints at in his ...

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I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but I have very little time remaining and I am not sure fo...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; I have been in the Chamber for only an hour, but I am gettin...

One problem is that the self-regulation we have had for years was part of the problem. The PCC en...

It is a privilege to speak in this debate on this important topic.

Why does the inquiry mat...

Is it not therefore slightly odd that everybody is now saying that the PCC is independent, despit...

My next point is that Sir Brian insists that there will be no involvement of political parties. M...

How does my hon. Friend reconcile the want of victims for solutions with the inconsistencies of t...

My hon. Friend makes a useful point about digital media. I think somebody suggested that we shoul...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the biggest steps forward in monitoring what is reasonable in, say...

That is a fair point. Of course, we all accept that the status quo is not good enough, but there ...

To accommodate more Members, the time limit is being reduced to eight minutes.

7.57 pm

It is a pleasure to follow some of the speeches. I agree wholeheartedly that we have some of the ...

This issue first came to my attention on 7 September 2010, at one of the first meetings of the Se...

But it is also clear that the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, in the charges presented ...

As Lord Justice Leveson says, the July 2009 review by the DPP was not assisted by the failure to ...

Order.

8.11 pm

I want to talk about costs in libel, privacy and other proceedings against the press. This is not...

Could not the independent regulator give good advice to people who have clearly been wronged and,...

That is what Lord Justice Leveson recommends, in a rather more organised way, but he says that it...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr Slaughter), whose remarks about th...

Is not the difference that the press has specific protections in law rather than laws that apply,...

I take my hon. Friend’s point about the boundaries that are being set. My point, however, is that...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is wrong for the press to support statutory regulation when it ...

I think that the Homer Simpson approach that we often observe—the contradictory approach that is ...

The mantra “press freedom” has become quite meaningless, as everyone is for press freedom, just a...

There has been a lot of praise of Lord Justice Leveson today, and I am afraid that I am going sli...

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Of course I will give way to my hon. and learned Friend.

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for the elevation he has given me. Does not his point have t...

I am very concerned by my hon. Friend’s suggestion. If we are to legislate for accuracy, I hate t...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

It is a privilege to give way.

It is an attractive and seductive argument that my hon. Friend sets out, but in many other walks ...

I am not particularly concerned that my doctor is an agent of the state who is going to take out ...

This has been broadly a good debate. It has been reasonable and thoughtful, and is perhaps even b...

It is privilege to speak in this debate and to follow the right hon. Member for Oldham West and R...

If everything that the hon. Gentleman says is correct, why then has he not heard the same complai...

We have a very long and proud history in the United Kingdom and we should not follow other people...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I want to finish—I almost have—and have already allowed the right hon. Gentleman to interject.