Sitting MP Super Injunction

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Sitting MP granted super-injunction05 May 2011
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Sir Fred Goodwin was named in the Commons as the subject of a super-injunction by a Lib Dem MPA serving MP has taken out a super-injunction preventing details of their activities being exposed, it has been disclosed.

The revelation came in the Commons as MPs discussed future Parliamentary business - including whether to debate creeping judge-made privacy laws and the spiralling use of gagging orders.

Each Thursday MPs are allowed to press Leader of the House Sir George Young to allocate Government time for debates. Conservative MP for Hendon, Matthew Offord, used the session to raise the gagging orders.

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter RSS He said: "There has been much public discussion on the increasing use of super-injunctions and the ability of judges to decide policy instead of elected Parliamentarians.

"Is the Leader of the House aware of the anomaly this creates if, as has been rumoured, a member of this place seeks a super-injunction to prevent discussion of their activities?"

He urged the Government to set aside time for a Commons debate on gagging orders.

Sir George replied: "This is a very important issue about how we balance on the one hand an individual's right to privacy and, on the other hand, the freedom of expression and transparency."

He said an inquiry by senior judge Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls, would examine super-injunctions "and other issues relating to injunctions which bind the Press".

Sir George added: "The Government will await the report from the Master of the Rolls before deciding the next step, and it may then be appropriate for the House to have a debate on this important issue."

Thursday's disclosure came two months after former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin was named in the Commons as the subject of a super-injunction. He was exposed by Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley, John Hemming, who used Parliamentary privilege to reveal its existence without fear of legal action.