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Leveson Inquiry: Cameron receives report Leveson Inquiry: Cameron receives report
(about 1 hour later)
The Leveson report into media standards has been given to Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of its official publication on Thursday.The Leveson report into media standards has been given to Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of its official publication on Thursday.
Mr Cameron pledged to seek a cross-party consensus on regulation, telling MPs the status quo was "unacceptable and needs to change". Mr Cameron pledged to seek a cross-party consensus on regulation, amid some reports the coalition might split on the issue.
Labour's Harriet Harman said regulation should be "independent of government" but also "independent of newspapers".Labour's Harriet Harman said regulation should be "independent of government" but also "independent of newspapers".
The PM will make a Commons statement on the report at 15:00 GMT on Thursday.The PM will make a Commons statement on the report at 15:00 GMT on Thursday.
Downing Street said it had received "half a dozen copies" and it is thought deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and the culture secretary will also see it. Downing Street said it had received "half a dozen copies" of Lord Justice Leveson's report, and it is thought deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and the culture secretary will also see it.
The PM and deputy PM are set to meet to discuss the government response to Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations, amid reports of a possible split in the coalition over the level of regulation. The PM and deputy PM are set to meet to discuss the government response, amid reports of possible divisions in the coalition over the future level of press regulation.
At the moment the press is self-regulated through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
The Leveson report is widely expected to recommend some form of statutory regulation overseen by an independent body. BBC political editor Nick Robinson says that, with Liberal Democrats less likely to be hostile to the possibility of statutory regulation, Mr Clegg could "take the extraordinary step of speaking in the Commons after the prime minister and in opposition to him".
The Lib Dems have asked the Speaker whether Mr Clegg can oppose the prime minister at the despatch box for his statement on the report, the BBC's James Landale reported. There has been no indication of the answer on that question of protocol.
The Leveson report is widely expected to recommend some form of statutory regulation overseen by an independent body. The press is currently self-regulated through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
Downing Street has said the prime minister is "open-minded" about the future of regulation. Previously he said he intended to implement the findings of the Leveson Inquiry, provided they were not "bonkers".
Public confidencePublic confidence
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Cameron said he was "looking forward to reading the report carefully". Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Cameron told MPs the status quo of press regulation was "unacceptable and needed to change".
He said he wanted an "independent regulatory system that can deliver and in which the public have confidence".He said he wanted an "independent regulatory system that can deliver and in which the public have confidence".
Ms Harman, Labour deputy leader and shadow culture secretary, said she agreed "100%" with the prime minister's comments.Ms Harman, Labour deputy leader and shadow culture secretary, said she agreed "100%" with the prime minister's comments.
The current complaints system "should be put on a proper footing because it's failed", she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme.The current complaints system "should be put on a proper footing because it's failed", she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme.
She went on: "It has to be independent of government and politics and Parliament. We don't want to have anything to do with regulating the press.She went on: "It has to be independent of government and politics and Parliament. We don't want to have anything to do with regulating the press.
"But it's also got to be independent of newspapers. You can't have the editors marking their own homework in the way they have been doing in the past.""But it's also got to be independent of newspapers. You can't have the editors marking their own homework in the way they have been doing in the past."
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has said he is ready to introduce reformed scrutiny of the press in Scotland if it is recommended in the report.
Number 10 said procedures were in place to ensure the report was not shared widely in government in the 24 hours before its official release. A cross-party group of more than 80 MPs and peers, including eight former cabinet ministers and London Olympics chairman Lord Coe, has urged Lord Leveson not to recommend legislation which they say would damage press freedom and give too much power to government.
There will be a coalition committee meeting on Thursday morning consisting of senior members from both sides of the coalition to finalise the government's response. The group, which has written to the href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/27/redress-vital-not-press-regulation" >Guardian and the href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9706854/Leveson-report-state-regulation-is-greatest-threat-to-newspapers-in-300-years-say-Conservative-MPs.html" >Daily Telegraph, argued against "the imposition of any form of statutory control even if it is dressed up as underpinning", and instead called for a stronger "self-regulatory" system.
Meanwhile, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has said he is ready to introduce reformed scrutiny of the press in Scotland if it is recommended in the report.
Lord Justice Leveson was asked to produce a list of recommendations for a more effective policy and regulatory regime for the press, which would preserve its independence while encouraging higher ethical and professional standards.
A cross-party group of more than 80 MPs and peers, including eight former cabinet ministers and London Olympics chairman Lord Coe, has urged him not to recommend a new law which they say would damage press freedom and give too much power to government.
The group, which has written to the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph, argued against "the imposition of any form of statutory control even if it is dressed up as underpinning", and instead called for a stronger "self-regulatory" system,
The group backs a proposal from former PCC chairman Lord Hunt and Lord Guy Black, ex-chairman of the body that finances the commission, for a "totally new" version of the regulator with increased powers.The group backs a proposal from former PCC chairman Lord Hunt and Lord Guy Black, ex-chairman of the body that finances the commission, for a "totally new" version of the regulator with increased powers.
News International Chief executive Tom Mockridge said they had come up with a "template which has a lot of support in the industry". News International Chief executive href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qptc" >Tom Mockridge told the World at One that this was a "template which has a lot of support in the industry".
He told The World at One: "I believe that we require some fundamental change in the way that the press should be regulated, but fundamentally it should remain regulated independent of the state."
'Bite'
Newspapers, he said, "need an effective watchdog, they need a tough watchdog, they need a watchdog with a majority of people outside the industry, they need a watchdog with bite and a watchdog with investigative powers.
"What they don't need is the state sending people into newspapers to determine what's a good story or what's a bad story."
But some campaigners, like former motorsport executive Max Mosley, say self-regulation has failed and new laws are needed to curb newspapers' excesses.But some campaigners, like former motorsport executive Max Mosley, say self-regulation has failed and new laws are needed to curb newspapers' excesses.
The actor Hugh Grant, who has been campaigning for stricter press regulation and supports independent regulation - but underpinned by statute - told BBC Breakfast: "What people are campaigning for is an end to newspapers being able to regulate themselves, marking their own homework... Mark Lewis, solicitor for phone-hacking victims including the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, said: "Statute sets something up so it can be independent.
"We need a proper regulator, an independent regulator, meaningful, that will need some statute to oblige newspapers to sign up to it." "I think it has to have a statute behind it. We talk about statutory underpinning, but it's an independent regulator with a statute behind it that says, 'This is enforced,' so that newspapers over a certain size are regulated in the same way as TV companies are regulated, so that there is a complaints body, a body that imposes proper ethical standards."
Downing Street has said the prime minister is "open-minded" about the future of regulation. Previously he said he intended to implement the findings of the Leveson Inquiry, provided they were not "bonkers". The actor Hugh Grant, who has been campaigning for stricter press regulation and supports independent regulation - but underpinned by statute - told BBC Breakfast: "What people are campaigning for is an end to newspapers being able to regulate themselves, marking their own homework."
But the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson says the coalition is preparing for the possibility that it may be divided by the report's recommendations, with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg less likely to be hostile to Lord Justice Leveson's proposals.
The Lib Dems have asked the Speaker whether Mr Clegg can oppose the prime minister at the despatch box for his statement on the report.
There has been no indication of the answer on that question of protocol.