Press Regulation

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Wednesday 13th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement made as a UQ in the other place. Given that what we are addressing are, indeed, the Conservative Party’s belated Leveson implementation proposals, can he confirm that he is on this occasion speaking on behalf of his party and not on behalf of the Government?

It is almost three months since the Leveson report was published. Most people, particularly the victims, are getting fed up with the delay and obfuscation being perpetrated by those who profess that they agree with the Leveson principles but who seem to be ready to do anything but implement his ingenious and effective recommendations. Yesterday’s YouGov poll commissioned by the Media Standards Trust found that 74% of people believe that the Government should implement Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations, 82% believe that if the status quo continues there will be a return to unethical and illegal practices and only 35% would have confidence in a press regulator set up voluntarily by newspapers and backed by a royal charter.

Given these figures, does the Minister agree with me that what Leveson proposes is fair and reasonable, as it protects free speech as well as protecting people from abuse and harassment by the press, and that there is no justification for watering it down? What we want is Leveson, not Leveson-lite. Does he also accept that the most straightforward way of implementing Leveson is by statute rather than the rather archaic and cumbersome proposals we have before us today, which are neither fish nor fowl—a royal charter plus parliamentary safeguards and a separate statute? Does he agree that Leveson has given Parliament the opportunity once and for all to clean up the practices and behaviours of the press that have made a misery of the lives of the Dowlers, the McCanns, Abigail Witchalls’ family and so many others, and that history will judge us harshly if we fail in our duty and do not implement Leveson now?