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With polling day within touching distance and politicians keen to divert attention to policy issues they want to talk about, other subjects such as press reform can be harder to discern or find specific mention of at all. So to try and help dismantle their positions and to enable voters, we have honed in on what each party is prepared to say about tackling press regulation, ethics, and the Leveson Inquiry, examining in detail the manifestos of the Lib Dems, Conservative, Reform, Green, and Labour Party.
The Liberal Democrats have committed to ensuring Leveson-compliant independent regulation, which will protect newspapers from political interference and the public from press abuse. They have also committed to Leveson Part Two, which will investigate corruption between the press, police and politicians.
So far as press regulation is concerned, this is a manifesto which puts the public first.
Not all political parties specifically mention Leveson by name. Most steer clear of public commitments to reinstate the public inquiry, with the exception of the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
The Liberal Democrats go further than most with a direct commitment to reestablish the inquiry cancelled by the Conservative party in their 2017 manifesto. Their focus is on combating hate speech and independent press regulation. Their 2024 Manifesto says they will support:
“Independent, Leveson-compliant regulation to ensure privacy, quality, diversity and choice in both print and online media, and proceed with Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry.”
They go on to say they have a commitment to “Stand up to hatred by: exposing and confronting the stereotyping, demagoguery and hate speech in public life and the media that inflames hatred and leads to spikes in hate crimes.”
The Liberal Democrats emphasise the protection of digital rights and online privacy, stating,
“[We will] Defend hard-won British rights and freedoms by introducing a Digital Bill of Rights to protect everyone’s rights online, including the rights to privacy, free expression, and participation without being subjected to harassment and abuse.”
Additionally, the manifesto highlights measures against online abuse stating that they will:
“Require social media companies to publish reports setting out the action they have taken to address online abuse against women and girls, and other groups who share a protected characteristic.”
The Conservative manifesto is incoherent on press freedom and standards.
On the one hand it declares opposition to “state regulation and control” of the press. On the other, it implies opposition to the Leveson reforms which would outlaw state involvement. It is opposed to investigating corruption through Leveson Part Two, and to “re-opening” the Royal Charter (which is essentially impossible).
It is a manifesto line which reads as if it was dictated by Rupert Murdoch down a weak phone line, by someone who didn’t understand the topic and tried to fill in the blanks themselves.
The Conservative Party 2024 Manifesto’s position on the press is incoherent, but implies an objection to reform, saying,
“We oppose state regulation and control of the press, including any attempt to bring forward Leveson 2 or re-open the Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press.”
Of course, the Leveson reforms and the Royal Charter outlaw state regulation of the press (and protect newspapers from it), so this doesn’t make any sense. Leveson Part Two is an inquiry, not a regulatory mechanism. Additionally, the Royal Charter cannot be “re-opened”.
On the topic of media regulation, the Tory manifesto dedicates itself to reforming the BBC.
“The BBC should represent the perspectives of the entire nation with a diversity of thought, accuracy, and impartiality as its guiding principles. We will carefully consider the findings of the Funding Review ahead of the next Royal Charter and ensure it upholds these principles. We will introduce a new complaints process for the BBC so the BBC does not mark its homework.”
Reform do not set out any manifesto plans on press standards.
The Reform Party 2024 Manifesto takes a mixed view on freedom of speech. It calls for ingrained privacy protections, critiquing current measures for failing in this regard. They also aim to cut funding to universities that “allow political bias”.
Their manifesto claims:
“The government’s Free Speech Act is toothless. Allowing political bias or cancel culture must face heavy financial penalties.”
Additionally, they say:
“Our data and privacy must be protected. Surveillance of the public must be limited and those monitoring us held to account.”
Regarding the BBC and its regulations, they go further stating:
“The BBC is institutionally biased. The TV licence is taxation without representation. We will scrap it. In a world of on-demand TV, people should be free to choose.”
No mention of the Leveson Inquiry can be found in their Manifesto.
The Green Party manifesto is not articulated correctly but unambiguous in its support for reform.
The Green Party 2024 Manifesto focuses on reducing media monopolies and implementing the Leveson Report in its entirety, believing that no person or company should own more than a fifth of the media market. Their manifesto outlines:
"Our media landscape is skewed by the dominance of billionaire and big-tech ownership, intent on maximising profits by irresponsible practices that undermine democracy and promote harmful online content.”
They propose: “Elected Greens will push for a change in the law so that no single individual or company can own more than 20% of any media market. All the reforms proposed in the second part of the 2012 Leveson Report.”
Labour are silent on press reform, with a manifesto which says the right things about other inquiries and injustices, but not Leveson.
The Labour Party 2024 Manifesto contains nothing regarding the Leveson Inquiry, press abuse, or media ethics.
Earlier this year, they supported legislation which would have encouraged newspapers to join an independent regulator. But, later in the year, they stood by as the Government defeated it.
To summarise, whilst something as contentious as media reform might not be high up on the agenda for political parties as we approach the end of the election campaign - what to promise about the press and the broader media, (according to the word of the parties’ manifestos) - reveals a huge diversity in position on the subject, where so much is at stake.
Traditionally newspapers claimed, among other things, to have ‘chosen winners’ of general elections, such is their perceived power, at least in their newspaper offices. The threat can be wielded in unsavoury forms as Ed Milliband found when pictured eating a bacon sandwich in the Evening Standard as he campaigned for the local elections in 2014. Neil Kinnock's 1983 election as Labour leader was overshadowed by a fall on Brighton beach. Interestingly, in this election embarrassing photo gaffes have been re-purposed by the LibDem party in the form of their leader Ed Davey, plunging off paddleboards, banging drums with unbridled enthusiasm and failing at sports, in his photo fails, as something to be embraced and enjoyed rather than scorned at - illuminating perhaps a zeitgeist that newspaper editors had not anticipated.
But with a clear majority in sight and a ‘don’t rock the boat’ flavour to their campaign, it might have been anticipated that the Labour party who have taken the most risk averse approach to the subject of press and media ethics in their manifesto. No surprises too from the outgoing Conservative party, whose friends in the press are some of the only remaining allies they can hope for as they most likely exit office. Nor from the Reform party whose ‘dog whistle’ style politics plays directly to some of the worst characteristics of the tabloid press, who they will hope to encourage with their hardline on press reform and freedom of speech. The most robust lines on the subject are to be found in the manifestos to the Green Party and the LibDems, whom critics might say can afford to offend the press, as they have little chance of election victory compared to the two main parties. Nevertheless their inclusion of Leveson reform commitments is something which the betrayed victims of the press can take some comfort in.
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