Hacked Off today reacted to speculation in iNews that part two of the Leveson Inquiry will not take place following "hints" from the new Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy. The article quotes from an interview with Nandy carried in The House magazine.

In the story, Nandy is said to have stated:

“Well, it’s not something that we committed to in the manifesto.”

Although the paper does not quote Nandy as definitively ruling out Leveson 2 - or state that the associated regulatory reforms will be ditched permanently - if true, the apparent new position would represent a betrayal by the Labour Party on its commitments to victims of the press, and suggests that the continuation of the inquiry remains off the table under the current administration. Under its previous leadership, the party was committed to holding Leveson 2 which would have delved further into the unlawful practices in newspapers and the relationship between the press and the police.

Hacked Off Director Nathan Sparkes reacted to the article and said:

"Actions, not words, will be the test of whether this Labour Government stands with the British people or the handful of individuals who own national newspapers. The Labour Party made cast-iron commitments to the victims of the phone hacking and press abuse scandals in 2012 to proceed with Leveson Part Two and introduce independent regulation.  A failure to honour those promises and throw hundreds of ordinary people abused by newspaper groups under the bus would represent a capitulation to the press barons, and a return to the integrity-free politics of recent Conservative administrations."