SOUTH Dorset MP Richard Drax has called for the state to not interfere with the freedom of the press.

Mr Drax, speaking in Parliament, defended the press in response to calls for the Culture Secretary Karen Bradley to activate Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which would impose punitive damages on newspapers refusing to join the recognised press regulator.

This would mean regional newspapers could find themselves having to pay opposition costs in libel cases, even if they won their cases in court.

Ms Bradley has ordered a fresh ten-week consultation into whether the new press laws are still in the public interest.

Meanwhile, Mr Drax, a former journalist of 17 years, said: "I suspect that, over a period of time, many sensible people in this place have come to think that we cannot use the state to interfere with the freedom of the press in this country."

In response to the phone hacking scandal, Mr Drax said the practice is already illegal.

"It is a criminal offence and people who commit that offence go to jail," he added. "Local newspapers, which had nothing to do with the scandal that occurred in a very small minority of the major newspapers, fear that if they have to pay costs despite even winning their case, they will have to close down and they will not be able to challenge those who should be challenged."