PM fights peers on press call

THERESA May yesterday vowed to overturn a House of Lords vote for stricter press regulations.

The unelected peers inflicted a blow on the Government’s Data Protection Bill on Wednesday, calling for a fresh probe into media standards.

The Lords also backed a controversial measure which would see newspapers not signed up to a state-supported regulator pay their own and their opponents’ legal costs in data protection cases, even if they won in court.

Mrs May said: “I think the impact of this vote would undermine high-quality journalism and a free press.

“I think it would particularly have a negative impact on local newspapers, which are an important underpinning of our democracy.

“I believe passionately in a free press. We want to have a free press that is able to hold politicians and others to account and we will be looking to overturn this vote in the House of Commons.”