APPENDIX 105
Memorandum submitted by Anne Webster
As the Chairman of the Commons Select Committee
on Culture, Media and Sport, I thought you would be interested
in this correspondence (enclosed) I had with the Press Complaints
Commission (not printed).
This correspondence arose because of my frustration
with the way the Daily Mail intruded into the private life
of Mrs Blair to which I strongly objected. It could have been
any number of other people whose rights to privacy have been abused
by that newspaper.
I have become only too aware of the failure
of the Press Commission to curb the excesses of the Press; I suspect
that the Code of Practice has become less of a guide and more
of a limitation to its effectiveness as a regulator. But more
importantly, the composition of the Commission makes it appear
to be judge in its own cause despite the nine who are held to
be independent.
I have become alarmed that some of the press
is gradually eroding our democratic institutions, not least by
private intrusion and the denigration of people in public life,
leading to a decline of the trust which I think is essential for
the working of democracy as we know it.
Having read the enclosed I hope you will give
some consideration to an alternative to the Press Commission,
possibly an independent regulator.
22 January 2003
| 
