UK politicians face Royal Charter embarrassment as press industry pushes ahead with alternative proposals
The UK political establishment is facing embarrassment in the battle over press regulation as the newspaper industry pushes ahead with its own plans for regulation in opposition to the government's Royal Charter.
Report: The Leveson Inquiry highlighted ethical failings in the press
The cross party Royal Charter - backed by all three main political parties - created in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry hit delays after the Press Standards Board of Finance (Pressbof) drew up an alternative charter on behalf of the newspaper industry.
On Sunday, former deputy prime minister John Prescott announced his resignation from the Privy Council in protest at recent developments, saying the government had "dragged its feet" over press regulation, enabling newspaper industry bodies to submit their own proposals first, and raised concerns of a "conspiracy" between Prime Minister David Cameron and the press.
The industry, comprising The Newspaper Society, the Newspaper Publishers' Assocation, the Scottish Newspaper Society and the Professional Publishers Association and with the backing of publishers including News UK, Associated Newspapers and Telegraph Media Group, has set the wheels in motion for a Press Complaints Commission replacement call the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).
More than 200 publishers have been invited to sign up to the latest move on press regulation, which the industry groups said would "deliver all the key Leveson recommendations."
A spokesperson for Guardian News & Media gave a measured reaction to developments, saying only that the group looked forward to receiving more information and taking part in consultations, while Group content director of the Independent and Evening Standards titles, Chris Blackhurst, backed the proposals.
"We’ve always called for genuine transparency and today’s development should go some way towards allaying that concern. These proposals should lead to a beefed up system with genuine punishments and the power to launch investigations," he said.
However, press regulation campaign group Hacked Off retorted by calling the proposals "no more than a cynical rebranding exercise" and a statement on the group's website claimed Ipso was "the brainchild of Murdoch's News International and the failed PCC".
A statement on behalf of the industry bodies signed up to the new plans revealed details of the intended powers of the new organisation, including imposing fines of up to £1m and the creation of a whistleblowers' hotline for journalists to report unethical demands from editors. The organisation will also have an arbitration service as an alternative to libel courts if a pilot scheme proves successful.