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Conservatives to publish draft royal charter on press regulation Conservatives publish draft royal charter on press regulation
(about 3 hours later)
  
The Conservatives are expected to set out plans for a new press regulator backed by royal charter later.
Prime Minister David Cameron rejected Lord Justice Leveson's recommendation, backed by Labour and the Lib Dems, that a new system be underpinned by statute.Prime Minister David Cameron rejected Lord Justice Leveson's recommendation, backed by Labour and the Lib Dems, that a new system be underpinned by statute.
The draft charter is expected to set up a "recognition body" to ensure the new press regulator does its job properly. The href="http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/RC_Draft_Royal_Charter_12_February_2013.pdf" >draft charter proposes setting up a "recognition panel" to ensure the new press regulator does its job properly.
Cross-party talks on how the Leveson report should be implemented have so far failed to reach agreement. The Tories say its plans mean legislation is not required.
In November a href="http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1213/hc07/0780/0780.asp" >report on press standards by Lord Justice Leveson, commissioned in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, recommended an independent self-regulatory watchdog for the press that would be backed by legislation. Cross-party talks on how the Leveson report should be implemented failed to reach agreement.
The plan has the support of the Liberal Democrats as well as Labour - who have published a draft bill setting out how the recommendation could be implemented. The Tory plans have been posted on the Department of Culture website, but make clear they are being published "outside of the normal arrangements for collective agreement, and [do] not reflect an agreed position between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties".
In November the report on press standards by Lord Justice Leveson, commissioned in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, recommended an independent, self-regulatory watchdog for the press that would be backed by legislation.
The plan has the support of the Liberal Democrats and Labour, who have published a draft bill setting out how the recommendation could be implemented.
Press freedomPress freedom
Campaign group Hacked Off has also published a draft bill, which it says would implement the recommendations of the Leveson report in full. But the prime minister said he did not believe a bill was necessary to set up the new regime and, instead, the Conservatives say a royal charter is the right way to provide legal backing for any new press regulator.
But the prime minister has said he does not believe a bill is necessary to set up the new regime and, instead, the Conservatives are expected to say a royal charter is the right way to provide legal backing for any new press regulator.
National newspaper editors held a series of meetings in the wake of the report's publication and agreed to put most of its proposals for self-regulation in place. But they resisted statutory underpinning or an auditing role for another statutory body.National newspaper editors held a series of meetings in the wake of the report's publication and agreed to put most of its proposals for self-regulation in place. But they resisted statutory underpinning or an auditing role for another statutory body.
Lord Hunt, the chairman of current regulator the Press Complaints Commission has indicated the industry could deliver its own regulatory structure by the middle of 2013.
Royal charters are formal documents that have been used to establish and lay out the terms of organisations, including the BBC and the Bank of England, and cannot be changed without government approval.Royal charters are formal documents that have been used to establish and lay out the terms of organisations, including the BBC and the Bank of England, and cannot be changed without government approval.
BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas said the Conservatives see legislation as neither necessary to set up the new regime nor desirable, claiming it could restrict press freedom. Campaign group Hacked Off has also published a draft bill, which it says would implement the recommendations of the Leveson report in full.
They see a charter as one step removed from the government and politicians, our correspondent added. It said it was "very disappointed indeed" with what appeared to be a series of concessions to the press.
But Labour has expressed concerns that a royal charter could put too much power in government hands and would bypass Parliament. Hacked Off director Brian Cathcart said: "All the elements suggest that the press have been given concessions and that the minister has put the interests of the press before the interests of the public...
'Worrying' "The loser is the British public. The loser is all the people who stand in future to be victims of the kinds of things, the kind of abuses, that caused the Leveson Inquiry in the first place."
Hacked Off, which met Mr Cameron on Monday, said the prime minister had failed to give assurances that the proposal would be "fully compliant" with the Leveson recommendations.
Brian Cathcart, director of the campaign group, said he had not seen the full details of the charter but believed Mr Cameron had "compromised" with the press.
Speaking at a conference in Westminster, he said: "Our firm view is that it (the Royal Charter) has to be completely Leveson compliant and utterly crystal clear. On that we had no reassurance from the prime minister.
"The prime minister was not reassuring about the idea that this body would be appointed in a transparent and independent way. He was not reassuring on the legal status of this charter. He gave us no encouragement to believe it would have underpinning in statute.
Mr Cathcart added: "He appears to be of the view that the draft charter is a solution and will deliver Leveson. That was his language. When we probed we found plenty to worry us."