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| PCC chair says he has widespread media backing for self-regulation plan | PCC chair says he has widespread media backing for self-regulation plan |
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| The head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), Lord Hunt, has said there is widespread agreement within the media for a proposed new self-regulation body he is arguing should be introduced in the wake of the Leveson report into press standards, which is published on Thursday. | The head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), Lord Hunt, has said there is widespread agreement within the media for a proposed new self-regulation body he is arguing should be introduced in the wake of the Leveson report into press standards, which is published on Thursday. |
| Asked whether he had secured agreement for his plan, which he hopes will see off the requirement for a regulatory system backed up by statutory powers, Hunt said this was the case. "I've had one-to-one meetings with all publishers, who cover thousands of editors," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, saying this covered local and regional titles as well as the national press. "They have all said they would sign up. This would be the first time ever that we have a binding in to a legal system through contracts." | Asked whether he had secured agreement for his plan, which he hopes will see off the requirement for a regulatory system backed up by statutory powers, Hunt said this was the case. "I've had one-to-one meetings with all publishers, who cover thousands of editors," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, saying this covered local and regional titles as well as the national press. "They have all said they would sign up. This would be the first time ever that we have a binding in to a legal system through contracts." |
| Such a regulator would have considerably more powers than the much-criticised PCC, Hunt said: "It's got to have teeth. That's probably why no one has ever set it up till now, because there hasn't been the willingness. There is now a willingness." | Such a regulator would have considerably more powers than the much-criticised PCC, Hunt said: "It's got to have teeth. That's probably why no one has ever set it up till now, because there hasn't been the willingness. There is now a willingness." |
| As well as the power to impose fines on newspapers and to send in teams to investigate possible breaches the new regulator would also have an "arbitral arm", giving members of the public easy access to restitution over what they saw as wrong or unfair coverage, he said. | As well as the power to impose fines on newspapers and to send in teams to investigate possible breaches the new regulator would also have an "arbitral arm", giving members of the public easy access to restitution over what they saw as wrong or unfair coverage, he said. |
| Leaving the decisions to parliament would be risky, Hunt argued: "It's the choice between a free press with independent regulation or a lengthy parliamentary battle with an uncertain outcome about state regulation." | Leaving the decisions to parliament would be risky, Hunt argued: "It's the choice between a free press with independent regulation or a lengthy parliamentary battle with an uncertain outcome about state regulation." |
| A self-regulatory system would work in the wake of Leveson, Hunt said: "I, for my part, am optimistic that once he's fired the starting gun we can set up a really good, independent system, for the first time ever, embracing freedom of the press." | A self-regulatory system would work in the wake of Leveson, Hunt said: "I, for my part, am optimistic that once he's fired the starting gun we can set up a really good, independent system, for the first time ever, embracing freedom of the press." |
| He added: "Let's restore public trust and confidence but let's do it with self-regulation. | He added: "Let's restore public trust and confidence but let's do it with self-regulation. |
| Hunt, who was previously a Conservative minister, is among a series of interested parties waging a vehement pre-emptive fight to persuade the government against accepting proposals for state-backed regulation, should Lord Justice Leveson's report recommend this. | |
| Hunt's party is split on the issue, with a group of 42 MPs writing a joint letter earlier this month calling for statutory regulation to remain an option, while another group of Tory MPs is about to send a counterblast. The foreign secretary, William Hague, indicated on Sunday that he sat more in the latter camp, arguing that the government should "err on the side of freedom". | Hunt's party is split on the issue, with a group of 42 MPs writing a joint letter earlier this month calling for statutory regulation to remain an option, while another group of Tory MPs is about to send a counterblast. The foreign secretary, William Hague, indicated on Sunday that he sat more in the latter camp, arguing that the government should "err on the side of freedom". |
| Another major Tory voice, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, argued on Sunday that restricting the UK's "uninhibited, vociferous and exuberant media" could harm democracy, a view echoed by a series of somewhat breathless articles in several newspapers. | Another major Tory voice, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, argued on Sunday that restricting the UK's "uninhibited, vociferous and exuberant media" could harm democracy, a view echoed by a series of somewhat breathless articles in several newspapers. |
| But writing in Monday's Guardian the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, urges David Cameron to quickly implement Leveson's recommendations, saying a failure to do "will be seen as a clear breach of the promise" he and Cameron made to the victims of press intrusion. Miliband added: "Killing the Leveson report by a drawn-out process would be an equal, if not greater, abdication of responsibility as an unreasonable rejection of its key recommendations." | But writing in Monday's Guardian the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, urges David Cameron to quickly implement Leveson's recommendations, saying a failure to do "will be seen as a clear breach of the promise" he and Cameron made to the victims of press intrusion. Miliband added: "Killing the Leveson report by a drawn-out process would be an equal, if not greater, abdication of responsibility as an unreasonable rejection of its key recommendations." |
| Also speaking on Today, the former Observer editor Will Hutton reiterated his support for a watchdog backed by law. Any statutes could also enshrine into law freedoms of the press such as the sanctity of sources and public interest defences for leaking information. "You've got to have the law sitting behind the proposals," he said. | Also speaking on Today, the former Observer editor Will Hutton reiterated his support for a watchdog backed by law. Any statutes could also enshrine into law freedoms of the press such as the sanctity of sources and public interest defences for leaking information. "You've got to have the law sitting behind the proposals," he said. |