House-of-Commons-001On Monday 3 February the Second Reading of the Deregulation Bill takes place in the House of Commons. Hidden away amidst changes to the regulation of knitting yarns, sale of liquor confectionary to children and repeal of archaic offences of shaking carpets or keeping pigsties, is a provision that seeks to repeal some of the journalistic protections in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which currently ensure that there is proper inter partes judicial scrutiny before police applications to obtain journalistic material are granted. Continue reading