Not the Last Word

Not the Last Word The withdrawal of the Defamation Bill has been effected with the same ill grace and petulance that marked the government's conduct at every stage of its abortive attempt to bulldoze this disgraceful piece of legislation through parliament. The prime minister had claimed that the provisions of the bill sought no more than to give effect to the recommendations of the Law Commission and the Second Press Commission when the truth was that not a single one of the most objectionable provisions of the bill