A contender to be the country’s next Prime Minister said freedom of the Press is essential for democracy and the killing of Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland shows the UK cannot be complacent.

Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary, will be speaking at the World News Media Congress in Glasgow today and is highlighting the need to pressurise other countries to value the role of the media.

Mr Hunt is expected to tell the conference that however inconvenient media scrutiny is, it is necessary for a free society.

Media executives and journalists from around the world are gathering in Glasgow today for the three-day event, highlighting the challenges facing journalism around the world.

The economic challenges facing the media, issues of trust in reporting, the importance of local news and press freedom will all be discussed.

Delegates from the UK will be joined by colleagues from several countries including Brazil, India, Philippines and Saudi Arabia at the event.

The Foreign Secretary is one of 11 MPs who have declared they will be standing as a candidate in the Conservative leadership election and will be subject to close media attention.

Mr Hunt is to say: “Democracy and freedom of expression mean nothing unless independent journalists are able to scrutinise the powerful – and discover the stubborn facts – however inconvenient this might sometimes be for politicians on the receiving end.

“If we want to embrace the opportunities of a free society, encourage the open exchange of ideas, and pass informed judgement on our leaders peacefully through the ballot box, then we must defend the institution which enables all of this.”

In April, Northern Irish journalist, Lyra McKee, 29, was shot and killed in Derry while reporting on rioting in the Creggan area of the city.

Mr Hunt will tell the conference it is a reminder that the UK is not immune to the dangers facing journalists more commonly associated with other parts of the world considered more volatile and dangerous.

He will say: “Last year, 99 journalists were killed and another 348 locked up by governments.

 “In April, Lyra McKee was murdered by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland. 

“The senseless killing of a talented young journalist showed that here in the United Kingdom, we have no cause for complacency.”

He will tell the conference that the UK and other western nations can play an important role in making the world safer for journalists and to make it difficult for regimes who are obstructive.

As Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt will host a conference in July to bring together global leaders, shine a spotlight on media repression with the intention of building a coalition of governments committed to a stronger diplomatic response when media freedom is curtailed.

He will say: “We cannot physically stop journalists from being locked up for doing their jobs.

“But we can alert global public opinion and make sure the diplomatic price is too high.”  

Burmese journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, gained international support for their reporting of a massacre in Rakhine State for Reuters News Agency.

Mr Hunt will use their case to highlight the power that the international community wields in holding those who act against journalists to account

He will say: “From their cells, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in April.

“Then, last month, they were freed after the President of Burma granted a pardon and the country’s civilian leaders wisely acted to correct a grave failure of due process.

“The generals gained nothing from their actions because the facts emerged anyway.”

The World Media News Media Conference takes place at the SEC in Glasgow today until Monday.