Gave evidence on behalf of the National Union of Journalists, of which he was a past-President and a long-standing National Executive Committee member at the time of the hearing. A former newspaper journalist and Head of Journalism at Liverpool John Moores University, whose research interests have included media ethics, he also served on the UK Press Council and as a long-term member of the NUJ Ethics Council.
Born 1948, Virginia Bottomley was a British Conservative Party politician and former Secretary of State for Health and for Culture, Media and Sport. Stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election, and was offered a peerage later that year. Bottomley gave evidence to the Inquiry on the DCMS at the time of her appointment in 1995 and of debate about the 1990 Calcutt Report and issues of privacy and regulation.
Gave evidence as Political Editor of the Sunday Mirror. From 1995, he had been a political correspondent at the House of Commons, working for a news agency supplying stories to regional agencies around the country before becoming Sunday Mirror Political Editor in 2000. Told the Inquiry that he had always worked within the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) Code, had never paid private investigators, but had occasionally sought expenses for paying freelance journalists. Reported the circumstances in which he felt concerns over misuse of taxpayers' money could over-ride concerns for an MP's privacy. He left his position in 2015 and was described as a "formidable scoop merchant" and "real gentleman".
Executive Editor of Politics at The Huffington Post UK. A former Deputy Political Editor of both the Independent and the London Evening Standard, Waugh has worked in the House of Commons for 18 years and gave evidence to the Inquiry as Chairman of the Parliamentary Lobby Journalists.
Centre-left political party in the UK, including social-democratic, democratic-socialist and trade-unionist outlooks. Harriet Harman QC MP presented the party's written evidence for the future of the press, presenting comprehensive options. She identified two deep-rooted problems: lack of redress for complaints and concentration of ownership. Summarised three options and the party's views on their strengths and weaknesses: a contractual system under a new PCC, a voluntary system with incentives, and statutory arrangements (for which, she said, a YouGov poll found 62 per cent support).
