New Clause 6 - Police directions stopping the harassment etc of a person in his home
Criminal Justice and Police Bill
11:45 pm
Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important point and I have discussed it with several journalists' organisations. Journalists will not be exempt from the law. Like any citizen they will have to abide by it. The provision will not make it unlawful for journalists to gather outside a person's home when they are pursuing a story, such as in a classic doorstep. That can sometimes be difficult and problematic for the people concerned, but would obviously not be unlawful, because what I referred to earlier, with respect to harassment, alarm and distress, would not arise.