You are not allowed to read this

[TheBigotBasher]

Is there a free press in the UK any more? Will someone now tackle UK libel laws?

Right wing blogger Guido Fawkes is doing what the Guardian should be doing. Publish and be damned.

The Member of Parliament for Newcastle Under Lyme, Paul Farrelly, has laid these questions. They are reported in the Parliamentary Order Paper. You are not allowed to read them without being in possible contempt of Court.

60 Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the Court of Appeal judgment in May 2009 in the case of Michael Napier and Irwin Mitchell v Pressdram Limited in respect of press freedom to report proceedings in court.
(292409)
61 Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation to protect (a) whistleblowers and (b) press freedom following the injunctions obtained in the High Court by (i) Barclays and Freshfields solicitors on 19 March 2009 on the publication of internal Barclays reports documenting alleged tax avoidance schemes and (ii) Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura.
(293006)
62 Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will (a) collect and (b) publish statistics on the number of non-reportable injunctions issued by the High Court in each of the last five years.

The Guardian and Private Eye have had "super injunctions" enforced on them. They are not allowed to report the injunction, except to say that they have been injuncted, they are not allowed to report on who requested the injunction or what the story is about.

Of course as far as I know the questions laid before Parliament have nothing to do with the injunctions served on Private Eye or The Guardian. In which case it would have nothing to do with this story.

Pressdram are the owners of Private Eye.

With regard to Barclays, I am sure that this page on wikileaks has nothing to do with it. Or this. Of course, the links between Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama about this are not worrying in the slightest.


cross posted here

[Timbuk3]

1. K&R

But I don't see my "R"...?

[TheBigotBasher]

2. Some unrecced straight away.

Employees of Barclays?

[juno jones]

3. K&R!

Very interesting set of links you have there.