The rift was sparked by Thursday's publication of a report by judge Brian Leveson which, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, proposed a new independent self-regulatory body backed by law. Cameron immediately warned legislation could threaten press freedom, but his deputy Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, insisted statutory oversight was essential to guarantee the independence of the new watchdog.
The prime minister said he accepted the vast majority of Leveson's proposals, which follow a year-long inquiry that heard from journalists, politicians and victims of press intrusion, but said a new law would put Britain on a slippery slope. Lawmakers will go ahead with drafting a law, although culture minister Maria Miller suggested the Conservatives would use the process to attempt to persuade the Lib Dems and Labour that the new law would be unworkable.
"Our concern is that we simply don't need to have that legislation to achieve the end objectives," she told BBC television. But actor Hugh Grant joined other victims of media intrusion in blasting Cameron for rejecting a state-backed watchdog despite his earlier pledge to follow Leveson's recommendations as long as they were not "bonkers".
"It wasn't and he didn't," Grant tweeted. The British press currently regulates itself through the Press Complaints Commission, a body staffed by editors. Its critics say it is toothless and partly responsible for Britain's failure to punish journalists for harassment, invasion of privacy and the hacking of voicemail messages.
Leveson proposed a beefed-up watchdog staffed by independent members, with the power to fine newspapers up to £1 million ($1.6 million, 1.23 million euros). It would be "essential" for the new body to be backed up by legislation, the judge concluded in his 2,000-page report. The junior coalition partners insist they will not let the Conservatives drag their feet on the legislation.