Leveson report delayed until late November

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/30/leveson-report-late-november

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Lord Justice Leveson's report on the regulation of newspapers following his inquiry into the culture and practices of the press has been delayed until the end of November.

Leveson's conclusions and recommendations on the future of press regulation had been expected initially in October but got pushed back to November and now sources say it will be published at the end rather of the month.

The exact timetable to which Leveson is working has been a closely guarded secret. He has always said he would report "in the autumn", leaving newspaper editors and proprietors on tenterhooks for the past two months.

Speculation has been rife that the report could be put back to December but sources say Leveson wants to get it out before George Osborne's autumn statement on the economy on 5 December.

There has been intense lobbying in the past few weeks by those in both sides of the debate on stricter press regulation. Some newspapers, notably the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, as well as politicians including Boris Johnson, have warned of dire consequences if statutory regulation were to be recommended by Leveson and taken up by David Cameron.

The two papers are among those backing a new lobby group, Free Speech Network, which launched last week warning that an "officially regulated press is the glib, easy, dangerous solution".

A Free Speech Network pamphlet said: "It would spell the slow, painful death of a raucous, audacious and impertinent press able to speak truth to power on behalf of its readers and entertaining enough to secure their loyalty. We would all be the losers."

The Free Speech Network is opposing the Hacked Off campaign for tougher press regulation being fronted by Hugh Grant.

Former BBC chairman Michael Grade told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that press curbs would not have stopped the publication of topless photographs of Kate Middleton.

Referrring to Ireland where the pictures were published, Grade said: "I doubt it has escaped Lord Justice Leveson's attention that the photographs of the duchess were published in countries with regulatory regimes offered as possible solutions for the UK.

"On this evidence, his menu of available options seems to be shrinking," said Grade.

Tory politicians also appear to be sharpening their knives for a battle over Leveson. On Sunday, the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, said the government should be reluctant to bring in new laws to regulate newspapers following the publication of Leveson's report.

Pickles said the press was working towards a way of offering proper recourse for those with legitimate complaints, adding that the right of newspapers to expose corruption must be protected.

He said that ministers must be very careful about introducing statutory regulation if Lord Justice Leveson recommends a new independent watchdog to monitor the press.

The Labour party, which helped pressure David Cameron into launching the Leveson inquiry in July last year in the aftermath of revelations that Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked, is likely to back his recommendations "as long as they are reasonable", said one source.

This source argued that statues governing issues such as defamation and data protection already apply to the press and there is nothing to be feared from a law that gives legal standing to bodies such as the libel resolutions arm of a watchdog.

Lord Black, executive director of Telegraph Media Group and chairman of the Press Standards Board of Finance, which funds the Press Complaints Commission, has also been lobbying against any form of statutory-based system, warning it could take three years to establish, and possibly longer because of the threat of a legal challenge.

During prime minister's questions last week, Cameron said what mattered was an independent regulator that could impose fines and investigate wrongdoing by newspapers.

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