Politicians Reject Press Self-Regulation Bid

Press Regulation: An Explainer

Updated: 3:50pm UK, Tuesday 08 October 2013

A guide to how the press regulation row has developed and the key arguments on either side.

The Leveson Report

Lord Justice Leveson conducted an inquiry into press ethics in the wake of the phone hacking scandal and reported last November.

He made a series of recommendations but these were not binding on the Government or the newspaper industry.

The publication of his report therefore sparked a new round of wrangling about how and to what extent his proposals should be implemented.

The Government's proposals

A cross-party deal was reached on a royal charter back in March after negotiations between the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour.

This would create a "recognition panel" to verify the work of a new independent self-regulation body to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

The new regulator would resolve complaints about newspaper stories but the panel would be able to withdraw recognition if it did not consider it effective or independent enough.

Agreement was reached at a late-night meeting in Whitehall but attracted controversy because it was attended by members of campaign group Hacked Off.

The idea of a royal charter was dreamt up by Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin as a compromise to address industry concerns about statutory oversight of the new regulator.

The press position

Publishers of some of the country's biggest newspapers put forward proposals for a rival charter in April.

It is similar in many ways to the cross-party version and also proposed a new regulator called the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

This charter prevents Parliament making amendments without the unanimous agreement of the recognition panel, regulator and trade associations.

It also allows former editors to serve on the recognition panel and requires at least one board member to have experience of the newspaper industry.

The regulator would have the power to "require" corrections and apologies rather than to "direct them".

The bar is also set higher for the consideration of group complaints that result from a petition or letter-writing campaign about a particular article.

The Guardian, Financial Times and Independent were the only national newspapers not to sign up to the proposals.

Campaigners complained that the press approach falls short of the Leveson recommendations and leaves too much power in the hands of the press.

What happens now?

Ministers have taken care to follow all the correct procedures by considering the press charter before deciding whether to go-ahead with the cross-party version.

A sub-committee of the Privy Council has met to look at the proposals and is meeting again on Tuesday before a full Council meeting on Wednesday.

There are reports the sub-committee has rejected the press plan as "flawed" and Culture Secretary Maria Miller is due to update the Commons later.

However, it is unclear whether the Privy Council will immediately approve Parliament's charter if this is the case - or whether further attempts at compromise will be launched.

What is the Privy Council?

The Council is formally made up of several hundred senior advisers to the Queen, mostly current and former politicians.

In practice, its day-to-day business is carried out by ministers who are members and monthly meetings are only attended by Her Majesty and a handful of Government ministers.

Orders in Council are signed by the Queen, but are agreed in advance by ministers.

There is some concern over whether the Queen should be asked to put her name to a royal charter which remains the subject of considerable contention.

Will the industry be forced to sign up?

If the Government's charter is approved, there is nothing to stop the press industry creating its own regulator without seeking recognition from the panel set up by the royal charter.

Some politicians fear that a watchdog endorsed by the recognition panel under the cross-party scheme would find itself with no newspapers to regulate.

Leveson proposed incentives to encourage newspapers to sign up, including protection from exemplary damages in the event of a serious libel or breach of privacy.

If the industry decided to go it alone with its own unrecognised regulator, papers would miss out on those safeguards.

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