Victory for press freedom as Reform lifts ban on the Post

COUNTY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP SAYS IT IS 'COMMITTED TO PRINCIPLES OF OPENNESS'

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

REFORM UK's Nottinghamshire County Council leadership has lifted its Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live ban in full as the authority says it remains "committed to the principles of openness".

A legal victory for the Post and its sister website following weeks of campaigning against the ban means we will again be invited to public council events and again be added to the council's distribution list for press releases.

The ban has been in place for more than a month and has been condemned since then by figures ranging from the Prime Minister to a leading US congressman, alongside more than 40,000 people who signed a petition raising concerns about the precedent the ban set in terms of press freedom.

The lifting of the ban follows a legal challenge launched by the Post, which saw the county council having to respond to a letter setting out the position adopted by Reach Midlands Media Limited, the publisher of the Post and Nottinghamshire Live. The letter, sent to the county council by CMS LLP on September 25 and written in conjunction with the Post's in-house legal team, set out the belief that the decision to issue the ban was without legal basis "due to its irrationality".