Lord Black of Brentwood, an Executive Director of the Telegraph Media Group and a Conservative Member of the House of Lords, has been reported to the Lords Commissioner for Standards for an incomplete and misleading entry in the Register of Interests.

Lord Black was appointed to the board of the Regulatory Funding Company (RFC) in May 2018.

The RFC is a committee of newspaper executives which funds, and exercises significant control over, press complaints-handler IPSO. This is in direct opposition to a key finding from the Leveson Inquiry, that funding bodies such as the RFC should have no powers over regulators in order to guarantee their independence from industry influence.

Lord Black describes the RFC in the Lords’ Register of Interests only as the body which “funds” IPSO.

Hacked Off have today written to the Lords Commissioner for Standards to report Lord Black for this entry, which omits any mention of the substantial powers which the Company is able to exercise over IPSO in violation of multiple Leveson recommendations. Hacked Off argues that this entry is incomplete to the point of being misleading.

Press freedom campaigners have consistently argued that working politicians should not be involved in newspaper complaints-handling or regulatory bodies. Hacked Off support the Leveson system of regulation, enshrined in the Royal Charter, which expressly prohibits political appointments.

Policy Manager Nathan Sparkes said,

“By describing the Regulatory Funding Company as the body which funds IPSO, Lord Black paints a picture of a benign organisation merely collecting subscriptions from the industry to fund the complaints-handler.“In fact, the RFC is a secretive body which controls multiple aspects of IPSO’s constitution and activities – enabling industry interference at virtually every level.“Appointing a politician to a body with such power over a newspaper complaints-handler would be strictly impermissible under the Leveson regulatory framework which, unlike IPSO, protects and defends freedom of the press from political interference.“Lord Black’s continued role in the organisation while taking a party whip in the House of Lords shows an utter disregard for the principles of press freedom.”ENDS

For press enquiries contact: sara@hackinginquiry.org 07554 665 940

Notes

• The complaint has been made today by post (as is required for the process), and is expected to reach the Commissioner Tuesday or Wednesday.
• Hacked Off is the campaign for a free and accountable press, and we work with the victims of press abuse to achieve those aims.