The Government is considering the idea of forcing newspapers to join a regulator, with financial penalties for those who refuse to.

Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary, told the Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions that the government favoured a “light touch” approach to regulation. Discussing possible penalties for newspaper companies that refuse to join a regulator, he added that they could be denied legal status as newspaper companies – meaning they would be forced to charge VAT on their products.

Hunt said his biggest grievance with the current Press Complaints Commission was that the public have lost faith in the system. A government-backed regulatory set-up would renew public confidence, he said. This might be considered a dangerous line of suggestion given the unanimous fear of state intervention expressed by editors during the Leveson inquiry.

Hunt stressed, however, that he was against the idea of statutory involvement in press content, adding that he hoped the press industry could put forward its own solutions for future regulation.

(Source: The Independent)

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