So, it seems some kind of torturous “deal” has been reached in London on how best to regulate the press in the future. If David Cameron’s proposals for a Royal Charter are less reprehensible than the plans favoured by Labour and Liberal Democrats that is not, in the end saying very much. But I suppose even midget mercies are worth welcoming.
This is not quite the end of the matter, however. It remains to be seen what impact this deal has on the other jurisdiction in these islands. That press regulation is a devolved matter is, I think, pretty much an accident (it was left off the list of explicitly reserved powers) but devolved it is. Alex Salmond convened an “expert panel” headed by the former Solicitor-General Lord McCluskey to consider how to build upon Lord Leveson’s proposals. He may regret doing so now. I wrote about this for yesterday’s edition of Scotland on Sunday:
It seems sadly typical of devolution’s often underwhelming history that Scotland should take a bad idea forged in London and make it appreciably worse.
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