by Rachel Ogbu//
56-year-old British-Nigerian, Helen Grant has spoken out in support of a free press in her constituency where she serves as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald.
Speaking to the Kent Messenger, she said: “This week sees the close of the Government consultation on Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, today’s written ministerial statement demonstrated the broad interest which this attracted with over 140,000 individual responses received. For those unfamiliar with the legislation we are talking about regulation of the press and the recommendations of the Leveson inquiry.
“Boiling the issue down to simple terms; the press are being asked to sign up for regulation by bodies approved under a Royal Charter by the Press Recognition Panel. The carrot for doing so is that they would be exempt from paying their opponents’ legal costs, even if they lost a court case. The stick is that newspapers outside a recognised self-regulator would pay their own and their opponents’ legal costs, even if they won a court case.”
“I can understand the industry’s general resistance to regulation, citing the need to preserve the freedom of the press and their role as a valid check and balance in our democracy. Let’s remember however for a moment that the whole contemporary issue of press regulation stemmed from the Millie Dowler phone hacking scandal that eventually brought down the News of the World. It is therefore evident that there are occasions when the press need to be held to account by an external, independent organisation.”
“A free press is a critical pillar of our much cherished liberal democracy and all of us who value it must fight tooth and nail to protect the independence of the press. I receive a regular postbag from constituents on both sides of the argument which proves to me that this is not an issue confined to industry stakeholders and legislators.”
Helen Grant has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald since 2010.
On 5th September 2012, she was appointed Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice and for Women’s and Equalities issues in David Cameron’s first ministerial reshuffle since the general election.
On October 7th 2013, she was promoted in the Prime Minister’s second reshuffle to the high profile role of Minister for Sport and Tourism. She stood down from this role after the General Election in May 2015.
Born in London to an English mother and a Nigerian orthopedic surgeon, Helen was brought up on the Raffles council estate in Carlisle for much of her early childhood. She quickly showed sporting talent, becoming captain of the school tennis and hockey teams, and representing the county in hockey, tennis, athletics and cross-country. She later became under-16 Judo Champion in North of England and Southern Scotland.
Helen moved on to obtain a law degree at the University of Hull, undertook solicitors’ finals at the College of Law in Guildford and qualified as a solicitor in 1988.
Helen is married with two sons and enjoys tennis, movies, sporting events and family life. She is an Honorary member of the Institution of Royal Engineers and the Patron of Women in Racing.
UK Based Strategic, multidisciplinary Writer with an eye for innovation and pixel perfection. MA in New Media and Internet Technologies. “Although my skill set is vast, my greatest expertise revolve in the worlds of social media, content creation and print collateral. My wish is to combine my knowledge and experience in these areas, to deliver the best creative to my employer’s clients and their audiences.”
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