News

The political reaction to Leveson

Published

12 years ago

November 30, 2012

Simon Leadbetter

The political reaction to Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations was predictable. The Liberal Democracts and Labour were in full support; the Conservatives against. We need real national leadership at times like this; not party management.

In the 2010 general election, the Conservatives secured the support of the majority of newspapers that were opposed to statutory underpinning to reform. This simple fact may or may not have something to do with the Tory leadership’s decision to question Leveson’s core recommendation of statutory underpinning. It would be sad if any discussion of this important matter prioritised narrow party interest over national interest.

You can read David Cameron’s statement here.

You can read Ed Miliband’s statement here.

You can read Nick Clegg’s statement here.

We need a free and raucous press that informs, educates and entertains but doesn’t mislead on important issues such as climate change, and which has the confidence of the people.

David Cameron needs to support the Leveson recommendations.

Simon Leadbetter

Simon Leadbetter is the founder and publisher of Blue & Green Tomorrow. He has held senior roles at Northcliffe, The Daily Telegraph, Santander, Barclaycard, AXA, Prudential and Fidelity. In 2004, he founded a marketing agency that worked amongst others with The Guardian, Vodafone, E.On and Liverpool Victoria. He sold this agency in 2006 and as Chief Marketing Officer for two VC-backed start-ups launched the online platform Cleantech Intelligence (which underpinned the The Guardian’s Cleantech 100) and StrategyEye Cleantech. Most recently, he was Marketing Director of Emap, the UK’s largest B2B publisher, and the founder of Blue & Green Communications Limited.