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| New press regulator with 'real teeth' could be set up within months | New press regulator with 'real teeth' could be set up within months |
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| A new self-regulator for the press with "very real teeth" could be established within three or four months to break the political impasse over royal charters, according to a Trinity Mirror executive involved with the project. | A new self-regulator for the press with "very real teeth" could be established within three or four months to break the political impasse over royal charters, according to a Trinity Mirror executive involved with the project. |
| Paul Vickers, the legal director of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, said the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) – announced on Monday – was being fast-tracked in an attempt to kill off accusations that big newspaper groups are conspiring to delay the introduction of a new regulator backed by royal charter. | Paul Vickers, the legal director of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, said the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) – announced on Monday – was being fast-tracked in an attempt to kill off accusations that big newspaper groups are conspiring to delay the introduction of a new regulator backed by royal charter. |
| "What were doing today is setting up a mechanism for creating a self-regulatory system. It's not dependent on a royal charter – we could do this tomorrow," Vickers told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. | "What were doing today is setting up a mechanism for creating a self-regulatory system. It's not dependent on a royal charter – we could do this tomorrow," Vickers told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. |
| "It will take some months to set up because we are following proper public appointment processes. It will be three or four months at the shortest before it's set up." | "It will take some months to set up because we are following proper public appointment processes. It will be three or four months at the shortest before it's set up." |
| Draft proposals for setting up Ipso were announced in a joint statement by companies including Rupert Murdoch's News UK, the Daily Mail publisher, Associated Newspapers, and Telegraph Media Group on Monday. | Draft proposals for setting up Ipso were announced in a joint statement by companies including Rupert Murdoch's News UK, the Daily Mail publisher, Associated Newspapers, and Telegraph Media Group on Monday. |
| They said Ipso would be a "complete break with the past" and would deliver all the key Leveson recommendations for reform of press regulation. | They said Ipso would be a "complete break with the past" and would deliver all the key Leveson recommendations for reform of press regulation. |
| Asked by the World at One presenter, Martha Kearney, whether Ipso was part of an industry conspiracy to delay the progression of the politicians' royal charter, Vickers said: "There's no conspiracy. It's to kill off accusations like that that we're now doing what we're announcing today." | Asked by the World at One presenter, Martha Kearney, whether Ipso was part of an industry conspiracy to delay the progression of the politicians' royal charter, Vickers said: "There's no conspiracy. It's to kill off accusations like that that we're now doing what we're announcing today." |
| Vickers said Ipso would have an investigative arm and would impose tough sanctions on errant publishers, including fines of up to £1m for systemic wrongdoing, giving it "absolute teeth, very real teeth". | Vickers said Ipso would have an investigative arm and would impose tough sanctions on errant publishers, including fines of up to £1m for systemic wrongdoing, giving it "absolute teeth, very real teeth". |
| Ipso was announced following an impasse over rival press regulation proposals backed by royal charter, one with the backing of most of the newspaper and magazine industry and the other supported by the three main political parties and Hacked Off, the group campaigning on behalf of victims of press intrusion. | Ipso was announced following an impasse over rival press regulation proposals backed by royal charter, one with the backing of most of the newspaper and magazine industry and the other supported by the three main political parties and Hacked Off, the group campaigning on behalf of victims of press intrusion. |
| Vickers said he believed most of the industry would walk away from the politicians' royal charter if the industry's own plans were rejected. "I think there will be large parts of the industry that would find it very very difficult to support it," he said. | Vickers said he believed most of the industry would walk away from the politicians' royal charter if the industry's own plans were rejected. "I think there will be large parts of the industry that would find it very very difficult to support it," he said. |
| "We're not trying to negotiate at the point of a barrel or whatever. We will have to deal with it at the time … but unless you get a critical mass of papers or publisher supporting a system it will be impossible to fund it; the costs are going to be something in the region of £3.5m-£4m. If you only have five or six newspapers signed up to it then that is quite a big chunk of their reducing revenues to pay for that service." | "We're not trying to negotiate at the point of a barrel or whatever. We will have to deal with it at the time … but unless you get a critical mass of papers or publisher supporting a system it will be impossible to fund it; the costs are going to be something in the region of £3.5m-£4m. If you only have five or six newspapers signed up to it then that is quite a big chunk of their reducing revenues to pay for that service." |
| Ipso will also offer a whistleblowers' hotline to allow journalists to object to editors who ask them to do anything they believe is unethical. The hotline was initially discarded by the press but reinstated after objections from some members of the industry. | Ipso will also offer a whistleblowers' hotline to allow journalists to object to editors who ask them to do anything they believe is unethical. The hotline was initially discarded by the press but reinstated after objections from some members of the industry. |
| Leading newspaper and magazine groups also agreed, under pressure from the Guardian and the Financial Times, to remove their proposal to veto who could be on the board of the new regulator. | Leading newspaper and magazine groups also agreed, under pressure from the Guardian and the Financial Times, to remove their proposal to veto who could be on the board of the new regulator. |
| But Hacked Off, which represents some of the victims of phone hacking, described the move as a "cynical rebranding exercise" and said it showed the industry was "determined to hold on to the power to bully the public without facing any consequences". | But Hacked Off, which represents some of the victims of phone hacking, described the move as a "cynical rebranding exercise" and said it showed the industry was "determined to hold on to the power to bully the public without facing any consequences". |
| The announcement of the establishment of Ipso comes just days after Lord Prescott quit the privy council in protest against the delays in implementing the government's royal charter for a press regulator, which was agreed by the three main parties and Hacked Off in the early hours of 18 March. | The announcement of the establishment of Ipso comes just days after Lord Prescott quit the privy council in protest against the delays in implementing the government's royal charter for a press regulator, which was agreed by the three main parties and Hacked Off in the early hours of 18 March. |
| Prescott said on Monday that the Ipso proposals "confirmed my worst fears" about a conspiracy to delay the introduction of a royal charter. | Prescott said on Monday that the Ipso proposals "confirmed my worst fears" about a conspiracy to delay the introduction of a royal charter. |
| "The decision to make is which [regulator] is consistent with Leveson," he told The World at One. "So why are the government rushing it through to the privy council, which they control through the cabinet? That's what I call a conspiracy between the prime minister and the press." | "The decision to make is which [regulator] is consistent with Leveson," he told The World at One. "So why are the government rushing it through to the privy council, which they control through the cabinet? That's what I call a conspiracy between the prime minister and the press." |
| Brian Cathcart, the executive director of Hacked Off, condemned the proposed self-regulator as an attempt by the industry to only meet its own "appallingly low" standards. | Brian Cathcart, the executive director of Hacked Off, condemned the proposed self-regulator as an attempt by the industry to only meet its own "appallingly low" standards. |
| He said: "By their actions they are telling the public that they are not answerable to judges, and not subject to the democratic will of Parliament. They are telling us that they are outlaws. | He said: "By their actions they are telling the public that they are not answerable to judges, and not subject to the democratic will of Parliament. They are telling us that they are outlaws. |
| "Hacked Off, their many supporters and the victims of press abuses will continue their campaign to bring them to book." | "Hacked Off, their many supporters and the victims of press abuses will continue their campaign to bring them to book." |
| The culture secretary, Maria Miller, said: "We have been urging the newspaper industry for several months to set up a new self-regulator and are glad that they seem to now be making progress. We all want to see the principles of the Leveson report implemented and the self-regulatory body is a key component of that." |