UK Commons defeat of Lords amendments ‘common sense’

The UK Society of Editors has welcomed the decision by the House ofCommons to vote down a Lords amendment to carry out part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry.

The amendment, which was passed by the House of Lords on Monday, was voted down by 301 votes to 289.

Ian Murray, Executive Director of the Society of Editors welcomed the decision which comes a week after the House voted down similar amendments tabled by Ed Miliband MP.

He said: “It’s unfortunate that it’s taken so long for common sense to prevail. Too many of our political leaders seem to believe that a free press and freedom of expression is something that can be used as a political football when it is far too precious a thing for that.”

The vote also saw amendments passed which will require a three-year assessment of the effectiveness of the Independent Press Standard’s Organisations compulsory low-cost arbitration scheme and the widening of the scope of the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) review into media compliance with the new data protection law. The ICO will also have stronger powers to compel evidence.