Prime Minister David Cameron: "We have a workable system ready to go"
Prime Minister David Cameron has called a halt to cross-party talks on press regulation, sparking anger from party leaders and victims of media intrusion.
Mr Cameron said he would publish plans for a royal charter to establish a tougher press regulator and will ask Parliament to vote on it on Monday.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems said they felt disappointed and surprised.
The two parties had backed statutory regulation as recommended by Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into press.
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End Quote Press industry statementThe prime minister is right to reject statutory regulation of the press - free of political control for 300 years - as fundamentally wrong in principle and unworkable in practice"
The inquiry was set up by Mr Cameron to examine the culture, practice and ethics of the press in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
Its 2,000-page report, published in November, found press behaviour was "outrageous" and "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people".
It recommended that the press should set up a tough new independent regulator, but the system should be underpinned by legislation to ensure the system was independent and effective
The report exposed divisions in the coalition government, with Mr Cameron opposing statutory control.
Many who oppose statutory control feel it could limit freedom of speech, whereas those who back it say self regulation - the current system of press regulation - has been shown to be ineffective in preventing press intrusion.
The PM has always known that he is likely to be defeated in the Commons on this issue. It is Ed Miliband and not him who leads a coalition on press regulation of Labour, the Lib Dems and some Conservative MPs and peers too.
So Cameron decided to pre-empt them and to pick a fight on his own terms and at a time and place of his choosing. By doing so he still faces the likelihood of defeat (though nothing is certain on an issue on which few have fixed views). He will still face being attacked for abandoning the victims.
However, he will calculate that he has demonstrated to the public that he is willing to deal with the issue of press excesses at the same time as indicating to the newspapers that he is fighting for press freedom whilst his opponents are desperate to shackle the press.
Above all though, perhaps David Cameron's calculation was that his defiant Downing Street news conference would make him look like a leader at a time when his own party has been questioning how long he should carry on in the job.
Speaking at a Number 10 press conference on Thursday, Mr Cameron confirmed cross-party talks on press reform had "concluded without agreement".
He said press treatment of those including the families of missing girl Madeleine McCann and murdered teenager Milly Dowler was "absolutely despicable", stressing he wanted a new system to prevent such things happening.
But he said a full legislative response presented endangered press freedom.
He said a royal charter would help to create the world's "toughest" regulatory system.
MPs are expected to debate the Conservative plans in the Commons on Monday.
Mr Cameron's comments come after the three main political parties held face-to-face talks on Wednesday to discuss whether plans for a new watchdog should be underpinned by legislation.
BBC's political editor Nick Robinson says the prime minister told his Lib Dem deputy Mr Clegg and Labour leader Mr Miliband by phone on Thursday that he would not accept a press law of any kind.
The deputy prime minister said he was "disappointed and surprised that David Cameron has decided to walk away from the cross-party talks" just when "real progress" was being made.
"Clearly I don't agree with David Cameron's approach. I will be working with politicians... from all parties to make sure we deliver the right solution," he said, adding that press regulation should not be the subject of "party political points scoring".
Nick Clegg: "David Cameron has decided to turn his back on a cross-party approach, I have not"
"David Cameron has decided to turn his back on a cross-party approach. I have not."
And Mr Miliband said the prime minister's solution did not serve the victims of press intrusion as "ministers could change his proposals without reference to Parliament, and it's not properly independent of the press".
He said a cross-party solution could still be reached, even if Labour and the Lib Dems went above Mr Cameron's head to talk to Tory MPs.
Meanwhile, media reform campaign group Hacked Off said the prime minister's announcement "shows that he's still protecting his friends in the press and betraying press abuse victims".
Its director, Prof Brian Cathcart, said the system Mr Cameron wanted to introduce would represent an "appalling betrayal" of the victims of press abuse who gave evidence to the inquiry.
"What David Cameron proposes is not real change. His charter is a complete disappointment, not only to those who gave evidence to the inquiry but the country," he said.
Labour leader Ed Miliband: "We are determined to get a solution that will deliver for victims"
Baroness Sheila Hollins, the mother of Abigail Witchalls who was attacked and became the subject of press intrusion, said she was "extremely angry" that the prime minister stepped away from the talks.
'Commons confrontation'She said Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations "do in fact secure the freedom of the press, but it's the freedom of the press to act in an ethical and responsible way" rather than the freedom for them to work in a way that intrudes on people's lives.
"This is not a party political issue. They should come together and not allow the press themselves to veto some of the proposals that have been made."
In a joint statement, executives of major newspaper publishing groups and press bodies said: "We share the prime minister's frustration at the way in which talks about the future of press regulation have broken down and legislation has been hijacked.
"The prime minister is right to reject statutory regulation of the press - free of political control for 300 years - as fundamentally wrong in principle and unworkable in practice."
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said there would now be "a showdown over Leveson - a Commons confrontation" between the Conservatives against the Lib Dems and Labour.
Mr Cameron knew they were considering having a vote and possibly wanted to be go on the offensive and force one, our correspondent said.
He also said that if the prime minister were to lose a vote he could at least turn to the press and say that he fought for their cause.
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