BROMSGROVE MP Sajid Javid, has shown his support of the Advertiser during a recent speech at the Society of Editors annual conference.

The statement was made as part of his talk on a new British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, which would include better protection for journalists.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said that if the conservatives receive a majority at the next election, they will scrap Labour’s Human Rights Act in favour of the new proposed new law.

In the speech, Mr Javid added that earlier laws, including the Human Rights Act and the European courts, had not done enough to protect journalists.

He said: “Local newspapers have long played a vital role in British life. They’re a crucial, trusted part of our democracy.

“They do a huge amount of good work in their communities. And they have proved to be a fantastic training ground for generations of reporters in the national press.

“My constituency, Bromsgrove, is privileged to be served by two excellent papers, the Advertiser and the Standard. It’s hard to imagine life in the town without them. And right now, papers like these have a more important role than ever.”

He described the British press as “the very foundation upon which our democracy stands,” a “voice for the voiceless” and a “vital bulwark against wrongdoing.”

He added that our country’s newspapers are the “best in the world.”

In his closing comments, he said: “And when I’m asked if their work should be hindered and restricted by meddling bureaucrats and politicians who wouldn’t know a spike from a stone sub, my answer is very simple.

Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”

In the wake of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards set up after the phone hacking scandal, the Government last year passed a Royal Charter intended to give state backing to a new press watchdog.

The industry opposed the plans, which critics said risked giving politicians control over the press.

The industry has proposed its own regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which could impose £1 million fines.

That plan was initially rejected by politicians, but the Coalition later said it was happy for the newspaper industry to push forward with its own plans.