At the time of the Inquiry, Ashford was Editorial Director of Northern & Shell, then the parent company of the Daily and Sunday Express, OK! magazine and a variety of other periodicals. He was requested to explain the circumstances of that company's withdrawal from the PCC. He said that "hurtful" attacks from other PCC members made N&S reluctant to participate, fearing that the PCC would not have the group's best interests at heart. Ashford also gave evidence regarding the Daily Express's close following of the Madeleine McCann story and comments made by Sir Christopher Meyer, then Chairman of PCC, about Peter Hill, editor at that time.
At the time of giving evidence, Desmond was the owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern & Shell, which also published celebrity magazines such as OK! and New!. Desmond gave examples of how the group dealt with moral and ethical questions. He cited his decision not to run a false story about the parentage of a member of the Royal family. Desmond told the Inquiry he was not familiar with the Editors' Code of Practice and considered it something as a proprietor he did not need to know about. All editorial decisions were left to the Express's editors, he said, including the paper's decision to stop backing Tony Blair and return to backing the Conservative Party.
Conservative MP for Surrey Heath and Education Secretary at the time of the Inquiry. A former journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal, the Times, the BBC and the Spectator. Told the Inquiry that sometimes "individuals reach for regulation in order to deal with failures of character or morality, and sometimes that regulation is right and appropriate but some of us believe that before the case for regulation is made, the case for liberty needs to be asserted as well".
At the time of the Inquiry, Joint Managing Director of Northern & Shell, publishers of Express Newspapers until 2018 when purchased by Trinity Mirror. Gave evidence relating to Express Newspapers' staff procedures and ethical standards and the financial procedures which Ellice believed ensured proper financial governance.
Group Finance Director of Northern & Shell, owners of the Express newspapers. Told the Inquiry the group operated a stringent approval process whereby any payment above £5,000 had to be approved by a main board director. Cash payments by journalists would have to go through the expenses system. He was not aware of any payments being made to private investigators, he said.
Daily newspaper in the UK, first published as a broadsheet in 1900. Acquired by Richard Desmond in 2000. Hugh Whittow was appointed editor in 2011. He told the Inquiry that “ethics play a big role in the Daily Express” and all journalists adhered to the Editors Code of Practice. He admitted to some misleading statistics about the EU and a fabricated story about the banning of salt.
