The Culture Secretary is working with families affected by the phone hacking scandal on potential changes to media regulation in the wake of Prince Harry’s settlement with News Group Newspapers.
Lisa Nandy said it was “clearly unsatisfactory” that ordinary people would not be able to pursue lengthy legal battles such as the Duke of Sussex’s marathon fight through the courts.
Speaking to the BBC’s World At One, Nandy said she had called on the families to draw up proposals to change how those who believe they have been wronged can secure justice.
The fact that not everybody has the access to justice that would enable them to pursue a case through the courts is a “very important point” that families from the Hacked Off campaign have flagged to her, she said.
“That’s something that many of the families who came in to speak to me recently as the newly-appointed Culture Secretary were keen to impress and what one of the reasons that the campaign was set up is.
“Because those wealthy and powerful people who are in the public eye, who have that public platform have been able to shine a spotlight on what’s happening to ordinary people who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get that into the public domain.
After Prince Harry’s lengthy court case against the publisher of The Sun, News Group Newspaper, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “clearly unsatisfactory” that only the wealthy can secure justice.
The phone hacking scandal has affected the less well-known just as much as the rich and famous.
Nandy says that she will examine proposals put forward by the families affected who want to change the way the system works to make it easier for the the less well off to secure their own redress.
But the Culture Secretary risks treading a difficult political tightrope, having insisted she will protect a free and fair press, while also giving those within the Hacked Off campaign hope that media reforms could be coming.
She may find that with proposed changes to BBC funding, spending on the arts at risk and creative sectors being squeezed, a fight with the media over Levenson-style reforms is a battle she can ill afford to take on.
“That’s clearly unsatisfactory, but I think the families do understand, too, that a free and fair press is an absolute cornerstone of democracy.”
A second-stage Leveson inquiry has already been ruled out, but she said that families from the group were putting together a briefing for her on the changes they are seeking.
“We don’t think that the Leveson two inquiry is fit for purpose, but one of the things that the families are doing for me at the moment is putting together a thorough briefing about the changes that they believe are required, and that’s something that we will work through as a Government, both with the families and with the media, to make sure that we strike that right balance and we protect a free and fair press,” she said.
She said she had been told about some “incredibly egregious examples” from families but that Government “can’t just legislate for egregious cases”.
Downing Street reaffirmed its decision not to continue with the second stage of the Leveson inquiry, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman adding: “Obviously, there’s a settlement which I can’t comment on.
“More broadly, newspapers play a vital role in a functioning democracy. Clearly, they must operate within the bounds of the law and certain codes. You’ve got the Government’s plans as set out in the manifesto, [we’re] not going ahead with a new inquiry.”
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