Who has won in the late-night Leveson talks? Both Harriet Harman and Maria Miller seem to think their own party’s Royal Charter has come out tops. And one says they’ve secured statutory underpinning, while the other says there isn’t any underpinning. And again, one says the deal is done, while the other says the parties are ‘close’ to a deal.
This is what Harman had to say on the Today programme:
‘There is an amendment going forward into the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill which says that where a Charter says in that Charter it can’t be dissolved or amended without a two-thirds majority in both Houses then that should have the force of law.’
She added:
‘The framework is set up in a Royal Charter, not by statute but in a Royal Charter. But just to make sure that the Royal Charter, which is run by the Privy Council essentially, which is effectively ministers, just to make sure that ministers can’t tamper with it in the future, there’s just a small piece of legislation in the House of Lords today which will say you can’t tamper with or water down this charter.
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