He also dismisses “this lunatic policeman” who threatened press freedom, and says “if necessary I will read out every word of [Darroch’s cables] in the House of Commons.”
Fleet Street, normally a justified sceptic of men from the ministry controlling what people publish, is an enthusiast of regulating social media giants.
Watson et al lost today, but they will inevitably return. The Government should honour its pledge to delete the preferred weapon against free expression.
Independent, fair, and low cost arbitration is the way to ensure ordinary people are protected from abuses. Parliament overwhelmingly voted for that in 2013.
The abuses at the heart of the hacking scandal were already illegal. A state regulator would only allow those running it to pursue punitive agendas against legal activity.