In the wake of a letter by George Eustice MP, published in the Guardian on Friday and signed by 42 MPs and two peers, in which the Conservative politician backed a limited form of statutory regulation and described proposals being put forward by the newspaper industry as at "risk of being an unstable model destined to fail", the director reinforced calls for freedom of the press.
Speaking on Friday ahead of the Society's annual conference in Belfast at the weekend where Lord Hunt, who alongside Lord Black of Brentwood have put forward new proposals for a regulatory system, will deliver the Society’s annual lecture, Bob Satchwell (pictured) said: "The relentless lobbying by Hacked Off and celebrities in their pursuit of securing statutory regulation risks undermining Lord Justice Leveson's report before it is even published.
"Throughout history some of those in power have sought to halt the freedom of the press and with it the British historic right to free speech.
"The current system of self regulation of course needs to be strengthened, but this does not mean throwing away the basic democratic principle of a free and independent press."
Lord Justice Leveson is due to publish the inquiry's findings at the end of this month.
