The members of a Foundation Group to oversee the first steps towards a prospective new press regulation system were named today.
Former cabinet secretary Lord Butler of Brockwell, ex-minister Lord Smith of Finsbury, and former TV executive Dame Susan Tinson will sit on the body tasked with establishing a scheme for appointing the board of a mooted independent regulator.
Journalists Sir Simon Jenkins and Trevor Kavanagh have also been drafted in.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the former judge who is chairing the Foundation Group, said: "This Foundation Group is an independent group set up to oversee the establishment of an independent appointments system and also to appoint the chair and members of an Appointment Panel who will select an Independent Board to lead the proposed new, independent self-regulatory body for news publishers.
"The role of the Foundation Group will end once an Appointment Panel is established."
He added: "I am pleased to chair such a distinguished group of people.
"Each person brings an appropriate level of experience and expertise and I believe the public can be confident we will both establish a suitable system of appointments and also select an appropriate Appointment Panel.
"The Foundation Group will select the chair and members of the Appointing Panel on the basis of the three public appointments principles – namely merit, fairness and openness – and the appointment process will be free from the influence of the industry and the Government alike."
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