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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Now then, Lord Justice Leveson published his recommendations for press reform more than six weeks ago now but politicians and newspaper editors it seems still can’t agree on how to implement it so what’s taking so long and will there ever be consensus? Well I’m joined now by national newspaper editor, at the heart of those negotiations of course, Chris Blackhurst, from the Independent, a very good morning to you. Chris, I ask that question because we seem to have lost track of what’s happening with Leveson. There seemed to be obviously a wind behind you before Christmas but has it all gone quiet now, is it stymied?

CHRIS BLACKHURST: I wouldn’t say stymied. What happened was that he produced a very long report, a huge, huge report, massive, but the one thing he missed out is he said what he’d like to happen but he didn’t give us any of the detail so now we’re trying to put the detail in and of course …

DM: Well he did give you detail but it was detail you didn’t agree with.

CB: Well, we did and actually nearly all of us, nearly all the newspaper editors, we all sort of got together and said actually this isn’t too bad but actually when you get down to the detail, when you start examining things like for instance he said, and we agree, that we’d like an arbitration service for ordinary people – not for celebrities – who haven’t got much money and really want to bring a case against a newspaper because they’ve been wronged in some way. What that’s led to is protests galore from regional papers, local papers, who don’t get many complaints normally who are saying look, this might open up the whole thing and you could get all sorts of people trying to make a quick buck. We’re trying to deal with these issues and it is taking time, it is very frustrating.

DM: I mean is the key to unlocking this political agreement, because we saw the different responses from the political parties to Leveson and indeed people were quite amazed at the time at almost the unanimous response from you lot, the newspaper editors. If you get the politicians to agree on a way forward, do you think then things will move fairly quickly?

CB: Yes, I was at a meeting last week with – who was there – Harriet Harman, Maria Miller, Oliver Letwin for the Tories and Lord Wallace for the Liberal Democrats and it’s clear that there isn’t agreement between them. I mean you’ve got Labour who want statute, you’ve got the Tories who don’t, you’ve got the Lib Dems who say they want statute but are not quite sure and might waver a bit. They’re not agreed and somehow we’ve got to get through it so it’s like wading through treacle, it is really.

DM: We had a view, didn’t we, in the Lords last week, Lord Stephens saying that some politicians, some of the newspapers feel that Leveson is the politicians revenge for Expenses-gate.

CB: I don't think that’s quite true. I think certainly Leveson himself, Leveson the inquiry and the judge, were extremely objective. I mean he was a judge, he was dispassionate and look, he produced a report that frankly anyone taking a dispassionate view could have produced. It’s very good in many respects and where I think Lord Stephens is right is that there are people at Westminster who just can’t wait, can’t wait for a Bill on the press to land on their desk and then get up in the House, whether it’s the Commons or the Lords, and wreak their revenge and once a Bill, once a draft Bill goes into the Commons and the Lords, once they get their teeth into it and add all sorts of amendments, that’s when the revenge will happen. That’s one reason why some of us are very keen that there should not be statute because we’re very much … and it’s not just expenses, I mean let’s not forget there are a lot of MPs, all sorts of shenanigans down the years, many of which we all know about and have been highlighted and they can’t wait, they’re sort of ‘bring it on, bring it on’.

DM: Okay Chris, thank you very much indeed, thank you very much for giving that view behind the curtains so to speak on what’s happening with Leveson. Chris Blackhurst there from The Independent.