Thousands rally to the defence of a free Press

TENS of thousands of people have warned the Government against implementing Draconian new libel laws that would have a chilling effect on the free Press.

Ministers said more than 140,000 responded to a consultation on whether to hold Leveson Part Two – an inquiry into the relationship between the Press and the police – and implement Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport did not give a breakdown of the huge response, but newspaper industry sources are confident a clear majority favoured repealing Section 40.

The legislation could make papers pay the costs of libel cases even if they win, deterring them from investigating corruption and other scandals.

Industry insiders believe at least 50,000 people went online to call for the repeal of Section 40, and tens of thousands more made the same submission in postal responses. Analysis of social media views also suggested up to

Free of State control

65 per cent were also in favour of repealing Section 40.

The new rules on libel costs would apply to newspapers that refuse to sign up to a Statebacked regulator called Impress.

Impress is backed by supporters of Hacked Off, and its financial support – £3.8million – came almost entirely from the motorracing tycoon Max Mosley.

Most newspapers and websites, including the Daily Mail and MailOnline, are instead members of the independent regulator IPSO, which is free of State control. It is funded by members – the model suggested by Lord Justice Leveson’s report into Press standards in November 2012.

The News Media Association has warned the ‘Draconian’ legislation could cost national newspapers £52million a year in additional legal costs, and local papers £48million a year.

Having remained silent throughout the consultation, which was ordered by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, The Guardian and the Financial Times newspapers yesterday both called for Section 40 to be repealed.