You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The Libel Reform Campaign will be holding events at all three party conferences this autumn, kicking off with one at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool tomorrow (21st September).
The events will be "part of a concerted move to remind politicians of their manifesto commitments to reform," the campaign said.
All three political parties made a commitment to libel reform in their general election manifestos, with the new coalition government making a commitment to a Libel Reform Bill on 9th July. Government lawyers are now preparing the first draft of the Bill.
Jonathan Heawood, director of English PEN, said the coalition government "has a unique opportunity to restore free speech and common sense to libel law" and that the publishing community had "spoken with a strong and unified voice on this issue". "As part of the libel reform campaign, English PEN will continue to put pressure on all political parties to fulfil their promises," he said.
Speakers at the various conference events will include Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, author Simon Singh and Tom McNally, minister of state for Justice.
The Libel Reform Campaign is run by English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science.