Press Freedom Under Attack
October 13, 2009 3:04 PM
Stuart Ritchie
Stuart Ritchie, East Lothian Liberal Democrats Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, has called for an urgent debate in the House of Commons on press freedom following attempts to stop the Guardian newspaper from reporting a written question in Parliament.
Labour MP Paul Farrelly put down a question yesterday to the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw. It asked about the injunction obtained by "Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton Report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura".
Despite a long-established tradition that reports of parliamentary proceedings are protected from legal action, the newspaper was initially banned from mentioning a question tabled by an MP for answer by a minister later this week. It said it had been barred from reporting who the MP was, which minister would answer the question, where it might be found or even why the gagging order was in place.
Stuart Ritchie said: "I am glad that the ban has been lifted although alarmed that the injunction was agreed to in the first place. Once again we see large companies trying to gag the press to save them from embarrassment. This is a concerning development that is creeping in to our society and comes on the back of the government's attempts to stop legal proceedings by the Serious Fraud Office in to BAE Systems for fear of embarrassment.
"Embarrassment can never be a reason for stopping the press from reporting on scandals or for governments preventing legal proceedings in to large companies. We must be sure that large companies and the government cannot bully people in to keeping silent on issues that affect this country."
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