MP suggests better regulation of the press
TOUGHER REGULATION of the press could be needed after the Duchess of Sussex was “hounded” in the media, a senior MP has warned.
Halifax MP and shadow immigration minister Holly Lynch said legislators had repeatedly backed a voluntary approach to press regulation as their preferred option, but claimed that had failed and it was time to start considering: ‘What next?’
The Labour MP added that freedom of the press should come with a responsibility not to engage in what she claimed was the “aggressive bullying” faced by Meghan.
Ms Lynch, who co-ordinated a letter signed by more than 70 women MPs in support of Meghan in 2019, suggested legislation may ultimately be needed to make the press take responsibility for its coverage of highprofile women. The letter criticised the “outdated, colonial undertones” in some of the coverage.
“What we said in that letter was there’s got to be an integrity to the British press, to know when something is in the public interest or when it is just tearing down a woman in public life for no reason,” Ms Lynch said.
“Some of that will be harder to find very clear guidance, legislation (for), to make sure that happens in reality, but clearly we cannot have a position where a woman in public life finds that she is feeling suicidal because of the relentless nature of the attacks on her and on her character.
We cannot have a position where a woman in public life finds that she is feeling suicidal
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