CHELTENHAM MP to join ‘super-injunction’ inquiry

CHELTENHAM MP Martin Horwood has been appointed as one of the two Liberal Democrat members of the joint parliamentary committee set up in the wake of May’s ‘super-injunction’ row. During May this year media attention focussed on a series of so-called ‘super-injunctions’ issued by courts to celebrities and others trying to protect their identities from the tabloid press. Former Formula 1 president Max Mosley, disgraced banker Fred Goodwin and Premier League footballer Ryan Giggs are amongst the famous names who have struggled to keep various aspects of their private lives out of the tabloids, some seeking and using so-called ‘super-injunctions’ under which the media are prevented from reporting not just the actual issues but even the existence of a legal dispute.

The row came to a head when Lib Dem MP John Hemming named Ryan Giggs in Parliament, putting clearly into the public domain what millions of Twitter users had already discovered. Furious arguments ensued over the right to privacy, the liberties of parliament, the courts and the media and the balance between free speech and personal privacy.

The joint parliamentary committee of Lords and MPs is being established with a brief to investigate how the laws on privacy and super-injunctions are working in practice, how a balance can be struck between privacy and freedom of expression and how best to determine the public interest in such cases. Other members of the committee include Exeter Labour MP and former minister Ben Bradshaw, retired bishop Richard Harries and Stratford Tory MP Nadhim Zadawi. The other Liberal Democrat member will be Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, a former BBC producer whose great-grandfather was Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith.

The first meeting of the committee will be on Thursday, 8 September.

Martin commented: ‘It’s an enormous privilege and a responsibility to be appointed to such a high profile committee. This issue touches on our civil liberties, our right to privacy, the freedom of the press and the right of the courts not to be bullied by MPs – and vice versa. It’s a controversial field and full of strongly conflicting viewpoints. I am trying to approach it with an open mind. As a Liberal, I’m obviously conscious of the importance of defending hard-won freedoms, including freedom on the internet but I do think people have a right to a private life and we need to guard against the abuse of power by rich news organisations as well as by governments.’