Leveson Victims Petition For New Press Law

The victims of phone hacking and press intrusion have launched an e-petition calling for all of Lord Justice Leveson's proposals for regulating the press to be implemented.

Actor Hugh Grant, Gerry McCann, father of missing Madeleine McCann, and Chris Jefferies, a retired school teacher who won damages from eight newspapers who had linked him with the murder of Joanna Yates in Bristol in December 2010, kicked off the Hacked Off campaign.

Speaking on Sky's Boulton and Co, Mr Jefferies said he was angry that the Prime Minister had rejected the idea of new legislation to regulate newspapers.

"I think David Cameron's fears are entirely unreal and entirely unjustified," he said, adding that a new body backed by law was essential in order to give it "credibility and durability".

Hugh Grant, Gerry McCann and Chris Jefferies in Westminster this afternoon

Mr McCann said he did not think Lord Justice Leveson had gone far enough.

"I think the press have had enough chances now. It's a very considered report and I think it's reasonable, as a minimum, that it is implemented."

Earlier, Culture Secretary Maria Miller insisted the "principles" of Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations to reform the press could be met without statutory backing.

She dismissed the question of new press laws - which has put David Cameron on a collision course with his coalition partners, the opposition and victims of press intrusion after indicating he will spike recommendations for a new independent regulatory body, backed by legislation.

Ms Miller said the coalition was drafting new legislation to prove why the Prime Minister has "grave misgivings" about the idea and how it could curb "freedom of speech".

Echoing Mr Cameron's concerns, she told Sky News: "I feel very strongly you should have grave concerns about putting in place a piece of legislation which could have the effect in the long term of really bringing into question the ability to maintain freedom of speech in this country.

Lord Justice Leveson unveiled his proposals for press reform on Thursday

"But also on a practical level, we don't think it is necessary to have that statutory underpinning to achieve the objectives which we all agree on, which is to have strong, tough, independent self-regulation which is something that we need in this country to address the problems we have experienced in recent years."

Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of The Sun, also warned such a move would be "the first step down the road to state intervention in the operation of newspapers".

"I think what the Prime Minister is doing is trying to safeguard freedom of the press. It is a hard won, hard fought for right and a freedom which dates back 300 years," he told Sky News.

"I think where we agree with Lord Justice Leveson is that the abuses and the practices in the past simply cannot continue. We accept virtually everything that he has recommended in terms of putting our house in order, short of making it a law of the land. I think we as journalists would be making a grave mistake if we sacrificed freedom of the press in any way, shape or form."

On Thursday, Lord Justice Leveson condemned the "culture of reckless and outrageous journalism" that dominated sections of the press for decades as he unveiled the findings of his 16-month inquiry.

The Appeal Court judge called for a new watchdog with statutory underpinning to be given the power to require prominent apologies and impose fines of as much as £1m.

Mr Cameron immediately voiced "serious concerns and misgivings" about legislative action, and said the press should be given "a limited period of time" to show it could get its house in order.

But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he believed Leveson's model could be "proportionate and workable" and insisted Parliament should push ahead "without delay".

Labour's Ed Miliband speaking in the Commons after the report is unveiled

Labour leader Ed Miliband said victims such as the McCanns and the parents of schoolgirl Milly Dowler would feel "utterly betrayed" by the Prime Minister.

He urged Tory MPs who support regulation backed by law to rebel in a Commons vote which he plans to force by the end of January and to approve Leveson's proposals in principle, with the aim of getting the new system in place by 2015.

The three party leaders held talks last night and the negotiations will reconvene "soon". But the prospect of the consensus Mr Cameron says he wants to achieve appeared distant as all three parties continued to look at the fine detail of the 2,400-page report.

Lord Justice Leveson's 16-month inquiry was prompted by the disclosure that News Of The World journalists hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, and his verdict condemned the behaviour of elements within the newspaper industry.

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