Free Press under attack

I WORRY that the print media may be fighting a losing battle to maintain a tradition of 300 years of a free Press in Britain if the Government imposes section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which appears intended to shackle financially our precious free Press, which most take for granted.

This 2013 Act will effectively blackmail newspapers ‘to know their place’.

This will be no surprise to the print media, remembering a few years ago a united Government and Opposition supported then Commons Speaker Michael Martin MP in spending £100,000 of taxpayers’ money on a legal attempt to suppress newspapers from exposing gross expenses fiddling by MPs. Is imposing section 40 ‘payback time’?

‘Give us our country back’ was the clarion call of the leading Tory Brexit campaigner: will he use his influence to stop this insidious attempt to censor the Press by the back door?

I don’t expect much support from him to stop censorship of the Press because Mr ‘Give our country back’, along with many other Tories and opposition MPs, sat on his hands or (hid behind the sofa) for many decades watching uncontrolled immigration from around the world filling up the UK. They were also unconcerned about our loss of sovereignty with EU bosses deciding many laws.

Anyone challenging them on policy was called a ‘little Englander’ or worse. It was only when Ukip started to gain a challenging foothold on the political field that Conservative MPs in their own self-interest decided to change their game. Then these new ‘patriots’ started shouting from the rooftops that ‘we want to control our borders and decide our own laws’ after years of silence on the matter.

The snake-oil salesmen and spivs at Westminster have been taking the electorate for mugs for years. If they

manage to muzzle our free Press, it’s job done for them.

GERALD GANNAWAY, Bristol.