Earlier today, the recommendations made by Lord Leveson into the culture, practices and ethics of the press were published.

I welcome his support for a free press and for independent regulation of the press.

By recommending reform of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) so that it’s made up of a majority of non-industry representatives and no serving editors, Lord Leveson is moving us in the right direction.

However, I'm worried that the process he suggests would be open to abuse and would rather see the PCC replaced entirely with an independent body along the lines of Ireland's Press Council.

I also think that journalists should be represented on this body.

Hundreds of constituents have lobbied me in the wake of the hacking scandal and agree that independent regulation of the media must be backed by law.

So I'm disappointed too that some of the positive comments made by Lord Leveson are not backed up with specific proposals for legislation, such as on a conscience clause to protect journalists and on practical steps to address the concentration of ownership in the press.

There will now be extensive cross party talks and it's important to keep up the pressure for a regulatory body that  is genuinely independent of Government as well as the sector it is regulating.

I will also be continuing to campaign on opening up media ownership, both to prevent any further concentration and to actively encourage far more local independent ownership.

ENDS