Threat to free press from MPs recedes further

THE THREAT to press freedom posed by laws going through Parliament appeared to recede further after a newspaper watchdog announced new measures which “should” satisfy potential Tory rebels who suggested they could back a crackdown. A well-placed source told The

Yorkshire Post the majority of Conservative potential rebel MPs, such as Ken Clarke, who have spoken in favour of going ahead with stage two of the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics, are now more likely to back down in an imminent Commons vote on whether it should proceed.

The source said the Government is also “very confident” of defeating an attempt to force newspapers who are taken to court, and are not sanctioned by a state-backed regulator, paying the costs of both sides regardless of whether they win, which had the backing of Tory MP Bill Wiggin.

Prime Minister Theresa May will seek to overturn attempts by the Lords to insert Leveson 2 and the so-called “Section 40” costs provision into the Data Protection Bill, set to return to the Commons in the coming weeks. The peers are backed by Labour and there have been suggestions that Tory rebel MPs could support them in crunch votes, although it is unclear whether there would be enough rebels for Jeremy Corbyn’s party to win.

But after the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the independent regulator backed by most of the press, announced the creation of a low-cost compulsory arbitration scheme, the Tory source felt “that today’s decision by IPSO would satisfy the vast majority of Conservative MPs who have concerns over the Leveson elements of the Data Protection Bill.” The source also said the Government is “very confident in defeating Labour’s attempts to introduce the Section 40 amendment”.

IPSO’s scheme will mean that someone who has a genuine claim against a newspaper who could have gone to court can ask for arbitration of their claim at a maximum cost of £100, and the newspaper cannot refuse.