Labour has insisted on whipping its MPs to vote on Tuesday for legislation that would require newspapers to pay the costs of any claims made against them by victims of phone hacking.
The party has imposed a three-line whip in favour of the proposed amendment to the law, which is opposed by all the UK’s major newspaper groups, who say it would erode their freedom to publish.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, the former shadow culture secretary who is now a backbencher, is expected to speak for the amendment. He has made no secret of his support for similar legislation proposed following the Leveson inquiry.
Last month, the House of Lords unexpectedly voted for an amendment – introduced by Lady Hollins, a crossbencher – to the investigatory powers bill.
She called on peers to implement a version of a key recommendation of the Leveson inquiry – that the victims of phone hacking should be protected from paying the costs of bringing their claims against newspapers in the civil courts. Such a move would potentially expose the press to two bills following a claim.
The Labour party backed her amendment in the Lords, and peers voted for it by 282 to 180.
It is up to the Commons to decide whether to reject the amendment or vote for it to become law.
The Hollins provision is similar to section 40 of the 2013 Crime and Courts Act, which proposes that the government can force publishers who are not signed up to a regulatory regime recognised by the royal charter-backed press recognition panel to pay both sides’ costs in libel and privacy cases – even if they win.
Last week Impress, which has a handful of members, won recognition from the panel, bringing the issue to the fore.
Many newspapers are members of Ipso, which says it does not want to be recognised, arguing this amounts to statutory regulation. Others, including the Guardian and the Financial Times, handle complaints internally.
Labour’s support for the Lords amendment, expected to be augmented by many Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs, could make it difficult for ministers to overturn it in the Commons, where the Conservatives have a majority of only 12.
However, neither Theresa May nor the culture secretary, Karen Bradley, are understood to be overly keen on introducing the new costs provision.
Lord Strasburger, the Lib Dem peer whose Twitter biography says he is “fighting too much intrusion into our privacy”, welcomed the prospect of the Commons vote in a tweet he posted on Monday.
Paul Strasburger (@LordStras)Govt just failed to stop Lords adding Leveson protection for victims of press abuse. Now it's up to the Commons tomorrow.
October 31, 2016
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “The government has implemented the vast majority of Leveson’s recommendations for independent press self-regulation. We continue to look closely at the issue of costs and are considering the amendment put forward by the Lords.”