Leveson Inquiry

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean Excerpts

Thursday 29th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clement-Jones]

My Lords—

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords—

[Lord Elton]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord McNally]

My noble friend makes a very sound point, and it is extremely good that it comes from someone on the Conservative Benches with such long experience of these matters.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Statement makes the very important point that the statutory underpinning of the Press Council of Ireland is accepted by those very newspapers that have become so hysterical about the possibility of statutory underpinning in this country. Will the Deputy Leader of the House assure the House that this crucially important point will not be lost in the cross-party discussions that will take place and that the Deputy Prime Minister will stick to his guns on this point?

[Lord McNally]

I can assure the noble Baroness of that fact.