Blaggers could be jailed - Clegg

14 July 2011 Last updated at 11:21 GMT By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News Deputy PM Nick Clegg: "A whole range of professions have been implicated."

People found guilty of obtaining personal details by deception - known as "blagging" - should be jailed, Deputy PM Nick Clegg has said.

Gordon Brown attempted to introduce prison terms of up to two years for the offence when he was in power.

But the law was never enacted amid concerns from newspaper bosses.

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre said at the time that the "frightening amendment" would "have a truly chilling effect on good journalism".

But in a speech earlier on press freedom, Mr Clegg said it was time to think again in the light of recent revelations about the alleged behaviour of journalists - and investigators hired by them - at News International.

'Under review'

Mr Clegg said: "On the issue of selling confidential information to journalists specifically, a whole range of professions have been implicated.

"Not just the police, but also private investigators, medical professionals and phone companies. Under the current law, for fraud and phone hacking you can go to prison.

"Whereas, under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act, unlawful use of personal data can get you a fine.

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We want to get to the root cause of blagging - the incentive for stealing information and selling it on”

End Quote Information Commissioner's Office "The Information Commissioner recommended in 2006 that that offence should also attract a custodial sentence.

"It wasn't taken up then, and this government has said it will keep it under review.

"I think that now - where it cannot be proved that information was obtained in the public interest - there is a case for looking at this issue again."

Knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal information without consent is an offence under Section 55 of Data Protection Act 1998.

However, the act also offers a defence, which is available to anyone who shows that obtaining, disclosing or procuring the information was in the public interest. The public interest defence has never been tested in court.

'Root cause'

Mr Clegg's announcement was welcomed by the Information Commissioner's office, which has been calling for tougher penalties for breaking the Data Protection Act since 2006.

"We believe a custodial sentence is necessary. If it goes to magistrates court, the maximum fine is ?5,000 and that can easily be written off as a business expense," said a spokesman.

"We want to get to the root cause of blagging - the incentive for stealing information and selling it on.

"We believe the threat of a custodial sentence will stop the problem overnight."

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This legislation would have made Britain the only country in the free world to jail journalists and could have had a considerable chilling effect on good journalism”

End Quote Paul Dacre Daily Mail editor in 2008 In a 2008 speech to the Society of Editors, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre described how he had persuaded then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink the proposals to protect press freedom.

He said: "The fourth issue we raised with Gordon Brown was a truly frightening amendment to the Data Protection Act, winding its way through Parliament, under which journalists faced being jailed for two years for illicitly obtaining personal information such as ex-directory telephone numbers or an individual's gas bills or medical records.

"This legislation would have made Britain the only country in the free world to jail journalists and could have had a considerable chilling effect on good journalism.

"The prime minister - I don't think it is breaking confidences to reveal - was hugely sympathetic to the industry's case and promised to do what he could to help.

"Over the coming months and battles ahead, Mr Brown was totally true to his word."

'Knee-jerk'

In May 2006, the Information Commissioner exposed the trade in details about people's lives - and said journalists were among the main customers.

The report revealed that 305 journalists had been identified during one investigation - Operation Motorman - as customers who were driving the illegal trade in confidential personal information.

It found nine magazines and 22 newspapers had regularly used a private investigator to access illegally-obtained information. A subsequent Freedom of Information request showed where the journalists were employed.

The Daily Mail used the private investigator the most, clocking up 952 transactions - almost five times that used by the News of the World (NoW), the now-defunct newspaper that started the phone-hacking scandal.

The Criminal Justice Act of 2008 provides for a maximum two-year sentence for illegally obtaining personal information without its owner's consent.

It is on the statute book but has never been enacted, meaning it can not be used by judges or magistrates.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The government is keeping the matter of penalties for offences committed under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 under review."

Mr Clegg also used his speech to urge politicians to "resist any temptation to impose knee-jerk, short-sighted restrictions on the media" in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding News International.

The government has launched a judge-led inquiry into press conduct, after allegations of phone hacking and payments to the police.

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Peer jailed for fiddling expenses

1 July 2011 Last updated at 16:46 GMT Lawyers for Lord Hanningfield said his age and poor health meant it was "cruel" to jail him Former Tory peer and Essex Council leader Lord Hanningfield has been jailed for nine months for fiddling his parliamentary expenses.

Paul White, 70, was convicted in May of six counts of false accounting relating to nearly ?14,000 of claims.

White has said he will seek leave to appeal against the verdict. If granted, the Court of Appeal will hear the case.

He had claimed money for overnight stays in London when he had actually returned home to Essex.

Peers, who are not paid a salary, were able to claim up to ?174-a-night when attending Parliament if their main home was outside the city.

Mileage claims

But during his trial in May, the court was told White submitted false claims for hotel bills including one when he was actually on board a flight to India at the time.

He also fraudulently claimed for train fares and car mileage.

White is the sixth parliamentarian to be jailed for expenses fraud. Tory peer Lord Taylor and four former Labour MPs - Eric Illsley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Elliot Morley - were all given prison sentences.

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Great trust was placed in peers to be honest in their claims for expenses. Lord Hanningfield and others have broken that trust”

End Quote Mr Justice Saunders Chaytor and Illsley have since been released under the home detention curfew scheme.

Passing sentence at Maidstone Crown Court, Mr Justice Saunders said the case could be "distinguished to some extent" from those of the former MPs as there were "ambiguities" in the expenses system in the Lords

"As I said in the case of Lord Taylor, the evidence I have heard suggests that the expenses scheme in the Lords was treated more flexibly than in the Commons," he said.

But the judge said it was clear that White had claimed for expenses "he did not incur" and his dishonesty had had "serious consequences" for the reputation of Parliament.

"He knew when he accepted a peerage that the job of a working peer was unpaid and he did not have to accept the honour," he said.

"It is not for me to say whether peers should or should not be paid but whatever you think of the scheme, it was not for any peer to take money to which he was not entitled, on the basis that he believes he is worth it."

"Great trust was placed in peers to be honest in their claims for expenses. The public expects no less of them. Lord Hanningfield and others have broken that trust."

'Cruel and unjust'

Lawyers for White said the offences had taken place "in six months of the prosecution's own choosing".

"The reality is that this man has actually given his own money for public service for all the 40 years he has been involved in it," said defence counsel Alun Jones QC.

White's poor health meant it was "cruel and unjust" to imprison him, he added: "It would only seek to appease a public opinion that has been moulded by the publicity over the past two years."

The BBC's Helen Fawkes said the judge had taken White's reportedly fragile mental state and his age into account before handing down the nine-month sentence - the shortest jail term of any resulting from the parliamentary expenses scandal.

She said the judge was told that the former peer had been diagnosed with clinical depression and had expressed suicidal ideas at the prospect of being sent to prison.

Mr Justice Saunders acknowledged a jail term would be harder for White than "for others who are mentally and physically fitter" but said there had to be consistency in sentencing across different expenses cases.

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