Press Regulation

Lord Sharkey Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

I understand what the noble Lord is saying. It does seem some time since Lord Justice Leveson reported—a year. However, during that time, many things have happened. The royal charter, which has now been agreed, is about to be sealed, which will enable the Commissioner for Public Appointments to start the process of finding a chair and members for the recognition panel, which is clearly important. It will then be for the press to set up its own self-regulator. Yes, it will be voluntary, but part of Lord Justice Leveson’s architecture is that there are incentives to encourage the press to join.

[Lord Sharkey (LD)]

My Lords, David Yelland, an ex-editor of the Sun, has said of the PCC’s IPSO proposal that,

“they can’t simply set up a system that has many of the flaws of the old one, run by the same people that ran the old one”.

Does the Minister agree with the sentiment behind that and will he reassure the House that he believes the PCC proposals to be fatally and irretrievably flawed?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

The most important thing about the recognition panel is that it will be for the panel to opine on any body that applies to it for recognition. That is part of the whole architecture that Lord Justice Leveson proposed: the recognition body and an independent self-regulator. Therefore, it is not for the Government or the Executive to opine whether an application from a new body is to be recognised. That is precisely why we set up the recognition panel. That work is now in progress.