Why Leicester should welcome the Leveson Report

Leveson – report looks for reform not revolution

Local heart surgeon Gerry McCann launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister yesterday – and rightly so.

David Cameron chose to reject the proposal for an independent regulator of the press – a key recommendation of the Leveson Report.

In doing so, Cameron demonstrated a clear contempt both for the inquiry process and for the vast majority of those that submitted evidence to it.

So it was hardly a surprise that Dr McCann, along with JK Rowling, Hugh Grant and representatives of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, have been highly critical of him.

Dr McCann and his wife have suffered incredible grief in the five and a half years since their daughter went missing.

But when they looked to the press for help and support, too often they found intrusion and on occasion, open hostility instead.

They gave evidence to Leveson in order to serve the wider public interest and it is vital that their evidence is given due recognition and respect.

Leveson concluded that a whole range of practices – from phone hacking to covert surveillance, to harassment, to other wrongful behaviour – were widespread, and all in breach of the code of conduct by which the press was supposed to abide.

While few, if any, of these practices were followed at local level, their influence on editors and reporters, some of whom aspired to progress to national posts, was clear.

The industry regularly tested, and may occasionally even have breached, legal boundaries in pursuit of stories designed to undermine key public organisations and individuals associated with them.

As with its national counterpart, it looked to make the news, rather than merely report on it.

So what safeguards can be put in place to stop these malpractices from recurring in future?

Leveson’s recommendations may not have gone as far as some media critics may have wished. But others, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have accepted them as measured and essential. Opinion polls have shown substantial majorities in favour of increased regulation, in spite of determined and widespread resistance within the industry itself.

Some of the press’s worst lapses during the past thirty years have occurred when papers have colluded with the government of the day, instead of exercising their duty to challenge it.

The Hillsborough disaster was one notable example, as were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, more recently, coverage of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The industry has made several assurances about its behaviour before. None of these have been honoured. All too often, “self-regulation” has proved to mean “no regulation”. That has to change.

The House of Commons indicated a willingness to defy David Cameron in July 2011, when he appeared to misread the public mood on the need for a public inquiry. He was eventually persuaded to change his mind and appoint Leveson.

Now the time has come for the House to demonstrate the same independence again and ensure that the Leveson recommendations are implemented in full.

Only then will Dr McCann, other victims of press intrusion and – crucially – the public at large, be satisfied that justice has been served.