News International, Telegraph Media Group, Associated Newspapers, Trinity Mirror and, in a rare show of unity, Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers have all signed up to the alternative Royal Charter.
The charter also has the backing of the newspaper and magazine trade bodies – the Newspaper Society, Newspaper Publishers Association and PPA.
In a move that continues the ongoing fall-out of News of the World’s phone hacking scandal and recommendations made by Lord Justice Leveson, the press contingent insists their charter will "offer real protection for the public".
In a joint statement yesterday, the publishers warn the Government’s regulator plans give politicians "an unacceptable degree of interference in the regulation of the press", and a series of press ads today addressed to "party leaders" detail their own plans to ensure Britain remains the "home of free speech".
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