This is a joint statement with the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
As Ministers with joint responsibility for the Leveson inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press, today, under section 20(7) of the Inquiries Act 2005, we have decided to vary the final restriction order (FRO) issued by Sir Brian Leveson on 29 November 2012. This variation, at the requests of the claimants, will allow documentation provided to the Leveson inquiry to be disclosed for the purposes of the legal proceedings following the claims brought against Associated Newspapers Ltd by Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and Sadie Frost Law.
The following documents will therefore be disclosed for the purposes of the legal proceedings:
Daily Mail ledger cards recording payments to private investigators.
The Mail on Sunday ledger cards recording payments to private investigators.
We do not consider that it is necessary in the public interest to withhold these documents from any disclosure or publication and have decided to vary the FRO so as to allow the disclosure of these documents solely for the purposes of the proceedings. In this case, in our judgment, the public interest in promoting the just, speedy and economic resolution of the proceedings outweighs the countervailing public interests.
A variation notice has been shared with the parties to the legal proceedings, and published on gov.uk.
This decision makes no comment on the merits of the proceedings, which is wholly a matter for the courts to determine.
[HCWS303]