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| Media praised for expenses scoop | Media praised for expenses scoop |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The head of the Press Complaints Commission has praised the exposure of MPs' expenses claims, saying it showed the vital need to retain press freedom. | The head of the Press Complaints Commission has praised the exposure of MPs' expenses claims, saying it showed the vital need to retain press freedom. |
| Baroness Buscombe said the media filled a "democratic deficit" and had a "right to feel proud" for exposing abuses of parliamentary allowances. | Baroness Buscombe said the media filled a "democratic deficit" and had a "right to feel proud" for exposing abuses of parliamentary allowances. |
| She said public mistrust in public institutions such as Parliament would be even greater without a free press. | She said public mistrust in public institutions such as Parliament would be even greater without a free press. |
| Lady Buscombe said the coverage revealed "a dysfunctional democracy". | Lady Buscombe said the coverage revealed "a dysfunctional democracy". |
| 'Contagious' | 'Contagious' |
| She said given the fact that "the House of Commons appears almost entirely to have forgotten what they are there for... it is vital that the press is free to investigate and probe and tell it like it is". | She said given the fact that "the House of Commons appears almost entirely to have forgotten what they are there for... it is vital that the press is free to investigate and probe and tell it like it is". |
| Lady Buscombe, who took over as PCC chairman in April this year, told media representatives at an annual lecture in Stansted, Essex: "You can rightly feel proud that, from unravelling the government's misleading spinning of intelligence in the Iraq War to exposing uncensored details of MPs' expenses, the British press has filled the democratic deficit in recent years." | |
| She said she recognised that some fellow Parliamentarians would not welcome her words but said that MPs and peers had to "learn the right lesson" from the media coverage of their activities. | She said she recognised that some fellow Parliamentarians would not welcome her words but said that MPs and peers had to "learn the right lesson" from the media coverage of their activities. |
| "If trust in politics is at a low ebb, it is because there has been too little freedom to shine a light on politicians' activities, not too much," she said. | "If trust in politics is at a low ebb, it is because there has been too little freedom to shine a light on politicians' activities, not too much," she said. |
| "A lack of trust in our institutions seems to be contagious. Yet however sceptical the public may be about Parliament, the judiciary - even the media itself - think how much lower it would be without a free press." | "A lack of trust in our institutions seems to be contagious. Yet however sceptical the public may be about Parliament, the judiciary - even the media itself - think how much lower it would be without a free press." |