Leveson was a public, judge-led inquiry set up by Prime Minister, David Cameron, to examine the culture, practice and ethics of the press. This inquiry was inspired by the ‘News International, phone hacking scandal.

In 2007, News of the world royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were convicted of illegal interception of phone messages. In July 2011, it was revealed that ‘News of the World’ reporters had hacked the voicemail of murder victim Milly Dowler. Messages were deleted by the journalists in the first few days after Milly’s disappearance in order to “free up space for more messages”. As a result friends and relatives of Milly concluded wrongly that she might still be alive. Similar incidents have happened with celebrities including Sienna Miller, Charlotte Church and Hugh Grant, who say they have been badly treated by the British press. The public inquiry would be chaired by Lord Justice Leveson on 13 July 2011.