Regulation Will Be Imposed on Press as Politicians Reject Self-regulation

Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The first rules on state regulation of the press for more than 300 years will be set out this week after politicians rejected the newspaper industry’s plans for self-regulation

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. » | James Kirkup, Political Editor | Tuesday, October 08, 2013