No threat to a free Press in Scotland

A DRACONIAN new libel law on the Press won’t be introduced in Scotland for fear of harming democracy and free speech, politicians said yesterday.

Anti-Press campaigners south of the border are demanding the implementation of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, which would force newspapers to pay all the legal costs in a libel case even if they win.

Yesterday the SNP government in Scotland dismissed the idea which it said would ‘threaten the viability’ of local newspapers. The intervention puts pressure on Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, who is considering whether to implement Section 40 in England and Wales, to follow suit.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘All politicians get frustrated with the media almost on a daily basis, but that in itself is a sign the media is doing its job. I think Section 40 goes way, way too far in the wrong direction.’

Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop added: ‘Measures consulted on by the UK Government would put at risk the viability of much of our independent media, particularly local newspapers, and pose a potential threat to freedom of the Press. Any movement by the UK Government to action Section 40 must carefully consider potential threats to the health of our democratic life and to the freedom of the Press.’

At Westminster, Tory MP Anne Main has tabled a motion warning that the implementation of Section 40 would ‘curtail the freedom of the Press in the UK by creating a chilling effect on journalism and would stifle investigative journalism’.

Mrs Main said the proposal was ‘an anathema to British justice’. She added that the terms of reference for a proposed Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards have already been covered by the first part and linked criminal investigations. The Government’s consultation on Section 40 and Leveson Two attracted 140,000 responses.