British solicitor and Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament since 1982, first for Peckham, and then for successor constituency of Camberwell and Peckham from 1997. Harman was Shadow Deputy Leader at the time of the Inquiry. She had served in various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions and, in her role as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party served twice as Acting Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. Her evidence covered consideration of regulation and the need for the Inquiry to address media ownership.
In 2012, as Treasury Solicitor, the Government's principal legal official, he gave written evidence to the Inquiry. At the time of News Corporation's BskyB bid, Sir Paul's advice had been sought on comments made about the bid by Vince Cable, the then Secretary of State for Business. Sir Paul told the Leveson Inquiry that he had informed the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, that in his view Cable's comments could put his impartiality in question and that Cable's duties in the matter should therefore be transferred to another Secretary of State. Sir Paul died in February 2018.
British lawyer, judge and academic. Sir Stephen was appointed a High Court judge in 1992, serving in the Queen's Bench Division. In 1999 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal as a Lord Justice of Appeal. In written evidence, he told the Inquiry that Britain could boast some of the best investigative journalism in the world and also some of the most intrusive and foul-mouthed newspapers in the world. He proposed for consideration a statutory printed-media regulator governed by Parliament and designed to be inquisitorial rather than adversarial. There was now, he said, a powerful case for regulation and that litigation and self-regulation were not working.
Author and lawyer specialising in public and administrative law. Blom-Cooper supplied detailed written evidence on the three Royal Commissions on the press since the Second World War, including histories of such concerns as "cheque-book journalism" and how to deal with irresponsible and inaccurate journalism. He told the Inquiry he favoured a possible Commission on Media Affairs. Sir Louis had himself been a Press Council chairman in 1988 shortly before it was replaced by the Press Complaints Commission. In 1992 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as the first Independent Commissioner for the Holding Centres. He was also counsel to the Saville Inquiry acting for the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.
