Formal Minutes
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Members present:
Mr John Whittingdale, in the Chair
| Mr Peter Ainsworth
Philip Davies
Paul Farrelly
| | Rosemary McKenna
Mr Adrian Sanders
Mr Tom Watson
|
| | |
Paul Farrelly declared a pecuniary interest as a pension holder
with Guardian Media Group.
Mr Tom Watson declared an interest as, in a legal dispute with
the Sun newspaper which had been settled during the inquiry,
he had been represented by Carter-Ruck Solicitors on a Conditional
Fee Agreement.
Mr John Whittingdale declared an interest as an elected member
of the Board of the Conservative party, the formal employer of
Mr Andy Coulson.
Draft Report (Press standards, privacy and libel), proposed
by the Chairman, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the Chairman's draft Report be read a second
time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraph 1 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 2 to 6 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 7 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 8 to 10 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 11 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 12 to 56 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 57 read.
Motion made, to leave out paragraph 57 — (Philip Davies)
The Committee divided.
| Ayes, 1
Philip Davies
| | Noes, 5
Mr Peter Ainsworth
Paul Farrelly
Rosemary McKenna
Mr Adrian Sanders
Mr Tom Watson
|
Paragraph 57 agreed to.
Paragraphs 58 to 66 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 67 read.
An amendment made.
Another amendment proposed, in line 3 to leave out the words "We
conclude, therefore, that for now matters relating to privacy
should continue to be determined according to common law, and
the flexibility that permits, rather than set down in statute."
and to insert the words "We do not believe it is healthy
for a de facto privacy law to be introduced through decisions
of unelected judges and believe that the law in this regard should
be determined by Parliament."— (Philip Davies)
Question put, That the amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
Ayes, 1
Philip Davies
| | Noes, 5
Mr Peter Ainsworth
Paul Farrelly
Rosemary McKenna
Mr Adrian Sanders
Mr Tom Watson
|
Paragraph 67, as amended, agreed to.
Paragraphs 68 to 92 agreed to.
Paragraph 93 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 94 to 100 agreed to.
Paragraph 101 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 102 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 103 to 112 agreed to.
Paragraph 113 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 114 to 116 agreed to.
Paragraph 117 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 118 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 119 to 134 agreed to.
Paragraph 135 read.
Motion made, to leave out paragraph 135 and to insert the following
new paragraph "We recognise the difficulties with the burden
of proof being placed on the defendant, and believe that whilst
no system is perfect the most important priority is to protect
freedom of speech and a free press. Therefore we believe the burden
of proof should be reversed to bring it into line with the US
where the system works well. We urge the Government to closely
monitor this new regime carefully." — (Philip Davies)
Question put, That the new paragraph be read a second time.
The Committee divided.
Ayes, 2
Philip Davies
Mr Adrian Sanders
| | Noes, 4
Mr Peter Ainsworth
Paul Farrelly
Rosemary McKenna
Mr Tom Watson
|
Paragraph 135 agreed to.
Paragraphs 136 to 163 agreed to.
Paragraph 164 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 165 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 166 to 167 agreed to.
Paragraph 168 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 169 to 183 agreed to.
A paragraph—(The Chairman)—brought up, read
the first and second time, and inserted (now paragraph 184).
Paragraphs 184 to 204 (now paragraphs 185 to 205) agreed to.
Paragraph 205 (now paragraph 206) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 206 (now paragraph 207) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 207 (now paragraph 208) agreed to.
Paragraph 208 (now paragraph 209) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 209 to 229 (now paragraphs 210 to 230) agreed to.
A paragraph—(Paul Farrelly)—brought up, read
the first and second time, and inserted (now paragraph 231).
Paragraphs 230 to 260 (now paragraphs 232 to 262) agreed to.
Paragraph 261 (now paragraph 263) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 262 to 276 (now paragraphs 264 to 278) agreed to.
Paragraph 277 (now paragraph 279) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 278 to 289 (now paragraphs 280 to 291) agreed to.
Paragraph 290 (now paragraph 292) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 291 to 304 (now paragraphs 293 to 306) agreed to.
Paragraph 305 (now paragraph 307) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 306 (now paragraph 308) agreed to.
Paragraph 307 (now paragraph 309) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 308 to 321 (now paragraphs 310 to 323) agreed to.
Paragraph 322 (now paragraph 324) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 323 to 366 (now paragraphs 325 to 368) agreed to.
A paragraph—(Paul Farrelly)—brought up, read
the first and second time, and inserted (now paragraph 369).
Paragraphs 367 to 418 (now paragraphs 370 to 421) read and agreed
to.
Paragraph 419 (now paragraph 422) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 420 (now paragraph 423) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 421 to 427 (now paragraphs 424 to 430) read and agreed
to.
Paragraph 428 (now paragraph 431) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 429 to 435 (now paragraphs 432 to 438) read and agreed
to.
Paragraph 436 (now paragraph 439) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 437 to 445 (now paragraphs 440 to 448) agreed to.
Paragraph 446 (now paragraph 449) read, amended and agreed to.
A paragraph—(Mr Tom Watson)—brought up and
read the first time. Question put, That the new paragraph be read
a second time.
The Committee divided.
Ayes, 4
Paul Farrelly
Rosemary McKenna
Mr Adrian Sanders
Mr Tom Watson
| | Noes, 2
Mr Peter Ainsworth
Philip Davies
|
Paragraph agreed to (now paragraph 450).
Paragraphs 447 to 465 (now paragraphs 451 to 469) agreed to.
Paragraph 466 (now paragraph 470) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 467 to 490 (now paragraphs 471 to 494) agreed to.
Paragraph 491 (now paragraph 495) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 492 to 496 (now paragraphs 496 to 500) agreed to.
Paragraph 497 (now paragraph 501) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 498 to 511 (now paragraphs 502 to 515) agreed to.
Paragraph 512 (now paragraph 516) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 513 to 538 (now paragraphs 517 to 542) agreed to.
Paragraph 539 (now paragraph 543) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 540 to 553 (now paragraphs 544 to 557) read and agreed
to.
Paragraph 554 (now paragraph 558) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 555 to 570 (now paragraphs 559 to 574) agreed to.
Paragraph 571 (now paragraph 575) read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 572 (now paragraph 576) agreed to.
Paragraph 573 read (now paragraph 577), amended and agreed to.
A paragraph—(The Chairman)—brought up, read
the first and second time, and added (now paragraph 578).
Annex amended and agreed to.
Summary amended and agreed to.
A paper was appended to the Report as Appendix.
Resolved, That the Report, as amended, be the Second Report
of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chairman make the Report to the House.
Written evidence was ordered to be reported to the House for printing
with the Report, together with written evidence previously reported
and ordered to be published.
Written evidence was ordered to be reported to the House for placing
in the Library and Parliamentary Archives.
Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available,
in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No. 134.
[Adjourned till Tuesday 23 February at 10.15 am
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