Conservatives to unveil draft royal charter on press regulation
The Conservatives are to press ahead with plans to implement a new press regulator backed by royal charter with the publication of their draft proposals later today.
The move follows Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to go it alone on reform of the press after rejecting a key recommendation of Lord Leveson that such a body should be underpinned by statute.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems have backed Leveson, publishing a draft bill of their own setting out how this could be implemented - but cross-party talks have thus far failed to reach consensus.
A royal charter differs from a bill in that it is a formal document laying out the terms of organisations that cannot be changed without government approval. A bill on the other hand would necessitate legislation drafted by Parliament.
The Conservatives believe that a royal charter would allow the regulator to operate without government interference but labour fear it would put too much power in the hands of government by bypassing Parliament.