Culture Secretary Karen Bradley orders fresh look at press laws to see if they are still in ‘public interest’

CULTURE Secretary Karen Bradley yesterday ordered a fresh look at new press laws to see whether they are still in “the public interest”.

The Cabinet minister announced a fresh 10 week consultation on whether to go ahead with “crippling” libel bills for newspapers that refuse to accept state-backed oversight.

It will also examine whether the second part of the year-long Leveson inquiry was also still necessary after three different police investigations that lasted five years.

Ms Bradley said: “Given the extent of these criminal investigations, the implementation of the recommendations from part one of the Leveson Inquiry and the cost to the taxpayer of the investigations, the Government is considering whether undertaking part two is still in the public interest.

“We are keen to take stock and seek the views of the public and interested parties, not least those who have been victims of press abuse.”

Part Two of the Leveson inquiry was supposed to probe wrongdoing between the press and the police.

But the total bill for all probes into press standards since the phone hacking scandal in 2011 now stands at £49.1million, Ms Bradley also revealed.

The pause gave hope to free press campaigners that the ‘Section 40’ law may never be enacted.

The order makes publications pay both sides’ legal fees out even if they win libel actions as a penalty for not signing up to the new state-backed regulator Impress, which no national newspapers have done.

In a hint that Ms Bradley was minded to end both measures, the Culture Secretary quoted Observer media commentator Peter Preston to MPs.

On Sunday, Mr Preston said the continued pursuit of newspapers “doesn’t make sense any longer”, is “blanket bitterness stuck in a time warp” and that is now “time to dismantle the barricades, time to move on”.

Ms Bradley also told the Commons that Tories had made a manifesto commitment during the 2015 general election “to defend the freedom of the press”.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson branded the consultation announcement “a sad day” and asked if it was right that “the cover up should be covered up”.

Press law pressure group Hacked Off dubbed it “an outrageous betrayal of promises made to victims of press abuse and to the British people”.

But Ms Bradley was backed by many but not all Tory MPs.

Kent MP and former Army officer Tom Tugendhat said: “Some of us are deeply uncomfortable with a state-regulated press. The free press is the lifeblood of democracy”.

Her predecessor as culture and media boss John Whittingdale added: “Will she bear in mind that real media giants of today, Facebook and Google, are outside of all regulation?”