JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
THE first state-sanctioned system for policing newspapers for more than 300 years is set to be approved this month after the three main political parties struck a deal yesterday.
But the industry signalled that it was unlikely to sign up despite concessions.
A draft Royal Charter was published after Labour and the Lib Dems agreed to Conservative Culture Secretary Maria Miller’s call for amendments designed to meet some of the industry’s concerns. It is expected to go unchanged to the Privy Council for approval on October 30.
It says people with complaints about a paper will have to pay an upfront fee to use an arbitration service. The three parties have also agreed to give papers more control over the standards code.
However the industry steering group representing national, regional and local papers said: “This remains a charter written by politicians, imposed by politicians and controlled by politicians.”
It said the proposals failed to meet Lord Justice Leveson’s call, at the end of his inquiry into the phone hacking and the press, for a “voluntary, independent” system.
