Regulation will be imposed on press as politicians reject self-regulation

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Telegraph:

Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, told MPs that there will be a new system of press regulation backed by law.

She also signalled her frustration with Downing Street over the way new rules were agreed in a late-night deal with campaigners earlier this year.

A senior Labour MP has also warned that his party is undermining democracy by supporting a system that forces newspapers to participate. Following last year’s Leveson Inquiry into wrongdoing by tabloid journalists, politicians and the newspaper industry put forward differing proposals for press regulation, to be backed with a Royal Charter.

The industry proposal, which would expose newspapers to £1 million fines but not give the state a role in regulation, has been described as the toughest regulatory regime in the free world.

The politicians proposed a statutory system that would compel newspapers to join. Publications that refuse will face “exemplary” damages in the event of libel. Both plans have been considered by ministers on the Privy Council. Mrs Miller told MPs that the industry proposal has been rejected as unacceptable to politicians.

“In the light of this, we will be taking forward the cross-party charter which was debated in this House,” she said.

Final details of the regime will be set out by Friday, she said, promising changes to reflect industry concerns.

The newspaper industry said that a regime “imposed” by politicians was a threat to free speech. In a joint statement, the Newspaper Publishers Association, the Newspaper Society and the Professional Publishers Association said: “Nothing could be more controversial than a Royal Charter imposed by politicians on an industry which is wholly opposed to it and which would fatally undermine freedom of expression.”

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