What could an Andy Burnham premiership mean for the future of press reform?
Writing for the Byline Times, Dr Adrian Quinn at the School of Media and Communication explains why he has hope for the revival of part two of the Leveson Inquiry
"In the winter of 2016, when he was Shadow Home Secretary, Burnham wrote to ministers demanding that it should go ahead. Speaking to Radio 4, Burnham took on the notion that part one was too costly when he said, 'We’ll only get the full value of that money if we see the job through. The Government’s only done half the job. The Prime Minister [David Cameron] promised in the House of Commons that there would be a second stage of the inquiry and he was right to suggest that.'"
"This summer, we await Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin’s ruling in the privacy case brought by Prince Harry and several others against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. 'The ruling will take some time,' we’re told. The conclusion of this latest court case, paired with a likely Burnham premiership, seems like a natural time to reconstitute Leveson 2, which has a feeling of unfinished business about it.
Dr Adrian Quinn is Assessment Lead at the School of Media and Communication. He has been a media educator for over 25 years, having arrived at Leeds after ten years at the University of Liverpool where he hold an honorary life membership of the Liverpool Guild of Students, the Guild’s highest award, given in recognition of his teaching. Dr Quinn has frequently been nominated for inspirational teaching at the annual Leeds Partnership Awards.
