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Cameron opposes proposed media law
Source: Agencies |
November 30, 2012, Friday
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UK Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday he had serious concerns about legislation to regulate the media, risking a split in his coalition after a damning inquiry triggered by a phone-hacking scandal proposed a press watchdog backed in law.
Opposing a legal foundation to an independent press regulator will delight the British media ahead of the 2015 election but will deepen a divide in Cameron's coalition government and within his own party.
"We should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and the free press," Cameron told parliament, watched from the chamber's gallery by victims of tabloid newspaper phone-hacking who have campaigned for tougher rules governing Britain's recalcitrant media.
"I'm not convinced at this stage that statute is necessary to achieve Lord Justice Leveson's objectives," Cameron said, referring to the judge who has spent a year investigating the press. "I have some serious concerns and misgivings on this recommendation."
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said he supported a proposal by Leveson to back a new independent press watchdog with legislation.
Leveson said he had no intention of ending three centuries of press freedom but condemned sometimes "outrageous" behavior by the press that had "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people."
"The ball moves back into the politicians' court: they must now decide who guards the guardians," Leveson said in Westminster, opposite the House of Commons.
Leveson's inquiry was ordered by Cameron after public outrage at revelations that reporters at one of Rupert Murdoch's tabloids hacked the phone messages of a 13-year-old murder victim, Milly Dowler.
Leveson said there should be a new independent self-regulatory body, which would be recognized in law, something the press and many within Cameron's own party, including senior ministers, have adamantly opposed as an erosion of press freedom.
Leveson, whose inquiry laid bare phone-hacking, claims of police bribes and the cosy relationship between top editors and the political elite, said the relationship between politicians and the press was too close. He said there was no credible evidence of bias on the part of senior minister and Cameron ally Jeremy Hunt in his handling of the BSkyB takeover, but said the close ties allowed a perception of favoritism.
Opposing a legal foundation to an independent press regulator will delight the British media ahead of the 2015 election but will deepen a divide in Cameron's coalition government and within his own party.
"We should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and the free press," Cameron told parliament, watched from the chamber's gallery by victims of tabloid newspaper phone-hacking who have campaigned for tougher rules governing Britain's recalcitrant media.
"I'm not convinced at this stage that statute is necessary to achieve Lord Justice Leveson's objectives," Cameron said, referring to the judge who has spent a year investigating the press. "I have some serious concerns and misgivings on this recommendation."
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said he supported a proposal by Leveson to back a new independent press watchdog with legislation.
Leveson said he had no intention of ending three centuries of press freedom but condemned sometimes "outrageous" behavior by the press that had "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people."
"The ball moves back into the politicians' court: they must now decide who guards the guardians," Leveson said in Westminster, opposite the House of Commons.
Leveson's inquiry was ordered by Cameron after public outrage at revelations that reporters at one of Rupert Murdoch's tabloids hacked the phone messages of a 13-year-old murder victim, Milly Dowler.
Leveson said there should be a new independent self-regulatory body, which would be recognized in law, something the press and many within Cameron's own party, including senior ministers, have adamantly opposed as an erosion of press freedom.
Leveson, whose inquiry laid bare phone-hacking, claims of police bribes and the cosy relationship between top editors and the political elite, said the relationship between politicians and the press was too close. He said there was no credible evidence of bias on the part of senior minister and Cameron ally Jeremy Hunt in his handling of the BSkyB takeover, but said the close ties allowed a perception of favoritism.
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