Leveson inquiry: press intrusion victims to meet party leaders

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/19/leveson-inquiry-press-victims

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David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are to meet half a dozen "victims of press intrusion" on Wednesday as the campaign for press reform is stepped up ahead of the publication of the Leveson report into future regulation of newspapers.

Hacked Off, which is campaigning for new legislation for a press watchdog, has secured three separate meetings with the party leaders in a bid to urge them to support the recommendations of the Leveson report which is expected to be published at the end of next week.

Chris Jefferies, the Bristol landlord caught up in the murder investigation of landscape architect Joanna Yeates, has been confirmed as one of the attendees.

Hacked Off's use of a group of alleged victims of the press marks a departure from its strategy to date of relying on actor Hugh Grant to front its campaign.

Some have criticised its reliance on celebrity star-power, after a meeting with Cameron in October when Rupert Murdoch branded Grant and others as "scumbag celebrities".

"None of them could be described as a 'celebrity'," said a spokesman for Hacked Off, underlining the change in approach.

He continued: "We are grateful that the three party leaders have agreed to meet with us and we will be asking them to continue the cross-party consensus that marked the launch of the Leveson inquiry."

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