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<p> </p><p>None. Council meetings are public meetings which already can be reported
by the press. We are merely reforming the access rules to allow the press and public
to report such meetings through digital and social media. It will help bring greater
awareness of the good work that councillors do for their local communities.</p><p>I
would observe that the cause of openness in council meetings was championed by Margaret
Thatcher, in her maiden speech to this House. As a backbencher, she successfully introduced
a Private Members' Bill – the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 – to
open up meetings to the press and public, spurred on by the practice of the print
unions getting Labour councillors to kick out journalists from council meetings who
had crossed picket lines.</p><p>Whilst that the 1960 Act did not expressly permit
filming, I note from perusing the Bill Committee Hansard that Mrs Thatcher was firmly
of the view that broadcast journalists should have the same rights as other members
of the press and public (<em>Official Report</em>, Standing Committee C, 13 April
1960). We are updating those analogue rights for a digital age.</p><p> </p>
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