Leveson: press regulation is ‘your problem, not mine’

Brian Leveson has no opinions on press regulation, apparently. It just took him three hours to repeat this to MPs, over and over again, peppering his increasingly exasperated answers with ‘with respect’, when he appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee this morning. Leveson did his upmost to get through the whole session without tilting one way or another on his inquiry, report or recommendations. But there were a few hints of what he actually thinks.

Firstly, Leveson is keen for some progress, particularly from the newspapers themselves. ‘I would be sorry if my recommendations were lost’, he said, adding:

‘I have said… in discussions I had with editors and others: This is your problem, not mine – it’s got to work for you.

‘But it’s got to work for the public as well. It’s got to work for those who, legitimately in my judgment, feel they have been abused by the press.”