Leveson keeps schtum on press regulation
Lord justice Leveson is maintaining his vow of silence on a planned new system of press regulation, much to the consternation of MPs itching to grill him.
Appearing before a House of Lords committee yesterday Leveson refused to be drawn on the controversy surrounding his plans for press regulation, prompting MPs to warn they would give the judge a ‘hard time’ today if a repeat performance was made during an appearance before the Culture Select Committee.
Seeking to distance himself from the political battles being waged around him Leveson told the Lords: “I am a serving judge. It would be absolutely inappropriate for me to come back into the question of my report or regulation of the Press.
“What I said on 29 November, 2012, remains my view. I’ve done my best, it is for others to decide how to take this forward.”
This prompted culture committee chairman John Whittingdale to say: “It is a farce if you can sit for that amount of time in an inquiry, spend that kind of money and then say you are not prepared to say anything more about it in Parliament.”
The press and politicians are currently at loggerheads over plans to implement a new system of press regulation underpinned by Royal Charter.