Leveson divides opinion

Newspaper editors must reach agreement on a “tough” independent regulator with powers to impose £1m fines or Parliament will set one up for them, the prime minister has said.

David Cameron said the “clock is ticking” this week, following a Downing Street summit with editors. Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations have divided opinion among journalists, lawyers and MPs.

The Leveson report recommends scrapping the Press Complaints Commission, and introducing legislation to set up an independent press regulator and to enshrine in law a duty on the government to protect the freedom of the press. However, the idea of statutory intervention is spooking many journalists, who fear the result could be amended by future governments, and could inhibit press freedom.

Leveson recommends the regulator handle complaints and impose sanctions for newspapers that break the code, including fines of up to £1m or one per cent of turnover. It would be reviewed every two years by the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom.

It should be established by “the press” and would need to be “truly independent of industry leaders and of government and politicians”. The chair and other members of the body would be independent and appointed by a “fair and open process”.

Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, says statutory intervention does not necessarily lead to government oversight, citing the experience of the legal profession as an example.

“Leveson has taken great care to distinguish between state-run regulation, and a system which is put into motion and recognised by statute,” he says.

However, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, says: “What nobody needs and Liberty cannot support is any last-resort compulsory statutory press regulation—coming at too high a price in a free society.”