Philip Davies has urged ministers to call a halt to new rules to regulate newspapers, described as an attack on 300 years of press freedom.
The Conservative MP intervened in a Commons debate to demand that “not a penny of taxpayers’ money” is spent on the controversial Royal Charter.
The Charter – in the wake of the Leveson inquiry – was given the go-ahead last month, when the Queen gave her consent at a meeting of the Privy Council.
But Culture Secretary Maria Miller suggested it could be redundant if a new voluntary standards body, planned by newspaper groups, is set up in a satisfactory way. Supporters of the proposed Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) argue it would avoid giving politicians a worrying influence over the press.
During the debate, Mr Davies said: “Not a penny of taxpayers’ money should be spent on setting up a recognition panel, which the secretary of state accepts might be entirely redundant.”
In reply, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey could not rule out that taxpayers’ money would be spent – or that it had been spent already.
The Ipso plan was rejected by ministers, despite its promise to expose newspapers to £1 million fines for wrongdoing.
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