Liberal way forward for the press
The phone hacking scandal should be used as an opportunity to "clean up" the relationship between the press, politicians and police.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said that the phone hacking scandal should be used as an opportunity to “clean up” the relationship between the press, politicians and police.
Speaking at the Institute for Government in London, Mr Clegg argued that the episode had “cast a spotlight on that murky world of the British establishment.”
We must now take this opportunity to clean things up and make sure that the public once again trust those institutions.
Mr Clegg argued that the principles of freedom, accountability and plurality should underpin the inquiry announced by David Cameron yesterday.
He said the best qualities of investigative journalism have to be preserved but at the same time, the worst excesses of the media must be mitigated.
The hacking scandals will no doubt continue to lurch from one headline to the next, but we must stay focused on the endgame. If we get this right, if we get the ball rolling while the demand for change is still strong, we can rebuild the confidence in our major institutions that, this week, has been so badly knocked. And we can make sure this never, ever happens again.
Speeches and transcripts: Deputy PM’s speech on freedom, accountability and plurality of the media