Press curbs could be the thin end of the wedge, Leveson told

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Press curbs could be the thin end of the wedge, Leveson told

July 24th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

19:27 EST, 23 July 2012

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UPDATED:

19:27 EST, 23 July 2012

Justice Leveson told the Telegraph Media Group is against statutory press regulation

The publisher of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph is opposed to statutory Press regulation and supports the creation of a new voluntary watchdog, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.

Gavin Millar, QC, for the Telegraph Media Group, said there was a real concern that once ‘the Rubicon has been crossed’ regarding legislating on the Press, politicians could seek further curbs.

He warned that once MPs ‘got the bit between their teeth, history tells us they can get quite enthusiastic about it’.

The Telegraph group was backing proposals by Lord Black of Brentwood, the chairman of the body that funds the Press Complaints Commission, for a self-regulatory scheme which would have the power to enforce fines, and which would be enforced through the use of contracts, the inquiry was told.

Mr Millar said: ‘Any form of statutory intervention in the process of regulating the newspapers is unacceptable to us.’ In response, Lord

Justice Leveson said: ‘I don’t understand why’, adding that he would not be looking to replicate a statutory system such as Ofcom.

Former director of the Press Complaints Commission Guy Black, pictured in the Westminster Palace Robing Room, has recommended a self-regulatory scheme

The current PCC is being phased out in the wake of the phone- hacking scandal, with Lord Justice Leveson tasked with proposing a replacement.

Mr Millar said that despite its shortfalls, the PCC ‘for the most part proved effective in dealing with single complaints from the public . . . and doing so swiftly and without cost’.

He said the Telegraph ‘accepts the case for replacing the PCC with something better’, but added it would be wrong ‘to suggest that there had been a complete failure by the industry to act in the face of warning signs’.

James Dingemans, QC, representing Northern and Shell, publisher of the Express and Star newspapers, said any future Press regulation should be ‘voluntary’ and ‘comprehensive of all news media’, including online publishers.