Labour ups the ante on statutory regulation of the press
Labour is set to pile pressure on David Cameron to buckle and accept the Leveson report in full, by commissioning its own lawyers to draft new statutory legislation.
The move is to be unveiled by shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman at cross party talks today with her Tory opposite number, Maria Miller, and Lib Dem deputy Simon Hughes.
It is hoped that consensus can be reached at this meeting but Labour’s move to publish its own legislation in as little as two weeks will up the ante.
The possibility of agreement looks remote however as temperatures rising on the government benches with conservative chairman of culture media and sport John Whittingdale denouncing Labour’s ‘political opportunism’.
Any official move to enact legislation is ultimately the prerogative of the prime minister but David Cameron has consented to the preparation of a draft bill – albeit solely to prove it will not work.
If Labour don’t get their way however they will table their proposals to a non-binding Commons vote, potentially embarrassing the Conservatives.
Prominent civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti, who aided in the drafting of Leveson’s report, yesterday upset the apple cart by suggesting that using Ofcom to oversee any new regulator would breach the Human Rights Act.