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The mother of the late TV presenter Caroline Flack has called for Keir Starmer to "find the courage" to resurrect the second part of the Leveson Inquiry into criminality in the British press, as exclusive new YouGov polling for this paper found most voters now want it re-opened.

The Inquiry had been due to look at the corrupt relationships between parts of the British press and the police, but was scrapped by the last Conservative Government following pressure from newspaper publishers.

Despite initially pledging to resurrect the Inquiry, Starmer later abandoned his support for doing so, amid reports of a secret deal struck with Rupert Murdoch's executives to secure their newspapers' endorsement for the Labour party prior to the general election.

A Government spokesperson told Byline Times that the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy now has "no plans" to restart the inquiry.

However, an exclusive new YouGov poll, which was commissioned by campaigners Hacked Off, found that 52% of all those surveyed would like Starmer's Government to commit to relaunching the Inquiry, amid a collapse in public trust in the media.

Asked if they would support the resurrection of the inquiry into "unlawful or improper conduct by newspapers and possible collusion with the police and politicians" more than half of all voters, and almost seven-in-ten (69%) of Labour voters agreed, with just 13% of all voters disagreeing.

EXCLUSIVE

Claim of a Deal Between The Sun and Starmer Is 'Conspiracy Theory Created For Clicks', News UK Insiders Say

'No such deal was done with Starmer. It simply did not happen', one of a number of sources told Byline Times

Tom Latchem and Dan Evans

Once those voters without an opinion were excluded, 80% backed relaunching the inquiry.

The poll also found a plurality of support for placing the press under the oversight of an independent regulator. Asked whether they believed it mattered that the "largest national newspapers are not members of a regulator that meets the criteria recommended by the Leveson Inquiry", 50% agreed that it did, as opposed to 19% who disagreed.

Overall almost half of those surveyed (47%) said the press should be brought under an independent regulator, compared to just 12% who wanted to keep the status quo.

Among those demanding change, 50% said that newspapers should be compelled to join an independent regulator, with a further 27% saying that those who refused to join should be penalised.

Trust in British journalism is at recent historical and international lows. According to a survey published by the Edelman Trust earlier this year, the UK's media is the least trusted out of all 28 countries it surveyed, with public trust among British voters in the media dropping more in the past year than in any other country.

Overall, just 31% of Brits said they trusted UK media outlets, down six points from the previous year.

Campaigners called for the Government to act, following the findings.

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In a joint statement, victim of press abuse and the mother of the late presenter Caroline Flack and victim of press intrusion into grief Mandy Garner told Byline Times, "Every day that some newspapers remain unregulated, they are able to b...