Leveson’s lasting effect on press-police relations

Four years after the publication of the Leveson report, and shortly after the recognition of IMPRESS as an approved regulator , the UK government has launched a new consultation into two issues of press regulation. The consultation invites views both on section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, and on whether Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry, which would address the relationship between the press and the police, is still “appropriate, proportionate and in the public interest.” Dr. Marianne Colbran, Visiting Research Fellow in Criminology in the Mannheim Centre, LSE, who recently published a paper on Leveson five years on: the effect of the Leveson and Filkin Reports on relations between the Metropolitan Police and the national news media, explores how the relationship between police and press has already changed, and offers recommendations if Part 2 does go ahead.