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".
First issued 1870. Tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham and distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. The newspaper is currently owned by Trinity Mirror Group, which also owns Daily Mirror and Birmingham Post.
The second largest territorial police force in England, covering the Metropolitan County of West Midlands, including the cities of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, totalling nearly 2.9 million inhabitants. Chris Sims, Chief Constable at the time of Inquiry, and Chief Inspector Sally Seeley, who ran the West Midlands Police press office, gave evidence. Sims described a "very traditional relationship" with the media, with regular contact with the Evening Mail, Birmingham Post, Express and Star, and Coventry Evening Telegraph newspapers, plus periodic contact with others. He told the Inquiry that he never accepted hospitality from the media because "it's a professional relationship". Chief Inspector Sally Seeley said officers were expected to notify the press bureau if they had contact with reporters.
