The first of many cross-party discussions on the response to the Leveson Inquiry lasted 30 minutes last night. The ‘frank’ meeting resulted in David Cameron agreeing to draft bill to see if the proposals in Lord Justice Leveson’s report were workable. The idea is that the legislation will prove that the statutory underpinning of the new independent press regulator is unworkable, while Number 10 sources are briefing that the Prime Minister has ‘not shifted one inch’ on his position on the report.
But agreeing to draft legislation, if only to prove those deep misgivings that Cameron retains, is a canny way of approaching the divide in Parliament over the response to the report. Rather than appearing to dismiss the recommendations out of hand, the Prime Minister can then say that the Government really did try to see if statutory regulation would work.
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