Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, calling on the Culture Secretary to withdraw from decisions on press regulation, said:

“Everyone is entitled to a private life. However, these revelations raise serious questions about why the Secretary of State has reneged on the Government’s promise to deliver the cross-party agreement on Leveson when this is something he was previously committed to as Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

“John Whittingdale must now clarify exactly why he no longer believes that Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act should be commenced and why he has failed to get on with Part II of the Leveson Inquiry.

“In order for the public to have any confidence in the Government’s approach to press regulation and to allay any concerns about perceptions of any undue influence, the Secretary of State must now recuse himself from any decision making over this matter, just as Vince Cable was removed from deciding media policy in the last Parliament.”