It’s reshuffle day today, with Labour’s recently-promoted frontbenchers now beginning the work of familiarising themselves with their new briefs. One who certainly won’t need any introduction to her role is Thangam Debbonaire, a trained classical cellist who now has the job of shadowing the Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport.
Among her responsibilities is setting out the party’s position on press reform. In their last general election manifesto, Labour pledged to ‘address misconduct and the unresolved failures of corporate governance raised by the second stage of the abandoned Leveson Inquiry.’ Labour has previously supported the implementation of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act. This legislation would force publishers that are not signed up to a Leveson-compliant regulator (i.e. Impress) to pay the legal fees of both sides of a privacy or libel case no matter its result.
Debbonaire’s predecessor, Lucy Powell, told Press Gazette in April 2022 that ‘our policy would be broadly looking like what we’ve had in recent manifestos.’
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