Leveson Bill will be drawn up ‘in good faith’: Clegg

Britain’s Liberal Democrats pledged to make sure legislation implementing the Leveson press regulation plan was drawn up “in good faith” in a further escalation of coalition tensions.

A spokesman for deputy prime minister Nick Clegg dismissed suggestions that a bill was only being drafted to demonstrate the proposals were unworkable.

“The statement that this bill is being drafted to show that it will not work does not reflect the position agreed by all three party leaders in the talks on Thursday,” said the spokesman.

“And the Liberal Democrats in government will ensure that the Bill is drafted in good faith.

“We owe that to the public and the victims.”

The intervention came as victims upped the pressure on prime minister David Cameron to abandon his resistance to statutory underpinning for a new regulator.

Gerry McCann, father of missing Madeleine McCann, said legal backing for any new system was the “minimum acceptable compromise for me and for many other victims” and urged Cameron to “do the right thing”.

“I would have liked to have seen a properly independent regulation of the press, whereas I think he has given the press another opportunity of self-regulation,” said McCann.

“But I do accept that full implementation of Lord Leveson’s report is the minimum acceptable compromise for me and I think for many other victims who have suffered at the hands of the press.

“The prime minister and our other elected politicians have an opportunity now to do the right thing. And if they do the right thing, for the public, then it will help restore a little confidence.”

Tory culture secretary Maria Miller insisted the “principles” of the judge’s blueprint could be met without statutory backing.

She said her department was preparing a draft “to look at what that bill might look like, to demonstrate our concerns”.

Asked if it was designed to prove the system would not work and would threaten press freedom, she said: “Absolutely.”

Cameron voiced “serious concerns and misgivings” about legislation, and said the press should be given “a limited period of time” to show it could get its house in order.

However, Clegg said he believed the Leveson model could be “proportionate and workable”, while Labour leader Ed Miliband urged MPs to “have faith” in the proposals.

The three party leaders met for initial talks last night but consensus appeared distant.