Truss defends press reports of Brexit case

LIZ Truss yesterday said she would never dictate what newspapers could write on their front pages as she defended her response to reporting of the legal challenge to Brexit.

The Lord Chancellor spoke out after Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger complained that some of the Press coverage of the case risked undermining the rule of law.

He also claimed politicians could have been ‘quicker and clearer’ in defending the judiciary after the High Court ruling that Theresa May did not have the power to start the Brexit process without the consent of Parliament.

But Miss Truss told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I will never say to the media what they should be printing on their headlines. I think it would be totally wrong for a Government minister to go around saying “this is acceptable, this isn’t acceptable”.’

She added: ‘I will not criticise and say to the free press what they should write in their headlines. Of course it’s incredibly important that we have an independent judiciary and the rule of law in this country – it’s been in operation for hundreds of years. Freedom of the press is another really important part of our democracy, just like independence of the judiciary.’

The Supreme Court rejected the Government’s appeal against the ruling.