First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the Leveson Report on the press despite claims he had been ‘tainted’ by the findings.
Mr Salmond told MSPs a judge-led group will now be set up to decide how the report is applied in Scotland.
He said he wanted to establish an ”independent implementation group” including five non-politicians to examine how the inquiry will impact on Scots law and devolved powers regarding the press.
However, opposition leaders at Holyrood said Mr Salmond should step aside from the discussions, after the report concluded planned lobbying actions by the First Minister on behalf of News Corp would have made the company’s bid for BSkyB illegal.
Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie said: ”He should offer to stand aside from the cross-party work. It should be led by someone untainted by the report.”
A debate on Lord Justice Leveson’s findings will take place in the Scottish Parliament next Tuesday and Mr Salmond has also invited opposition leaders to discuss the issue separately.
He said: ”I believe it important to achieve cross-party agreement in Scotland on the best way forward.
”Finally, and if agreed to, I propose the establishment of an independent implementation group, chaired by a Court of Session judge with five non-politicians.
”The purpose of this group would be to consider how best to implement Lord Leveson’s proposals in the context of Scots law and the devolved responsibilities of this Parliament.”
The First Minister backed Lord Leveson’s recommendations and said he welcomed their similarity to the Press Council of Ireland model he has previously endorsed.
”I am supportive of the conclusions of Lord Leveson, who has set out clearly the difference between statutory regulation of the press on the one hand and the argument for statutory underpinning of self-regulation on the other,” he added.
Labour’s Johann Lamont, who described Leveson’s recommendations as ”sensible”, voiced her opinion on Mr Salmond’s participation in cross-party talks.
”After reading Lord Leveson’s comments in his report I am convinced that Alex Salmond is not the man to lead any form of press regulation,” she said.
Ruth Davidson, of the Conservatives, said: ”I think it would be wise for the First Minister to take a step back from the process he announced today and allow another minister to represent the Scottish Government in the proposed cross-party talks.”
The First Minister did not lobby Westminster at any time, but displayed a ”striking” readiness to do so, according to the report.
However, Lord Leveson said if Mr Salmond had pursued the matter he would have been ”seeking to persuade a quasi-judicial decision-maker to take into account a factor which was irrelevant” and would have ”rendered the decision unlawful”.
Lord Leveson said he found no evidence of a deal to trade NewsCorp newspaper support for the SNP in exchange for Scottish Government support for the BSkyB bid.
The report said Mr Salmond’s ”laudable” readiness to intervene in the BSkyB bid was motivated by an anxiety to help Scotland because of the high numbers of people employed by News Corp.
Lord Leveson added: ”Judged by what he did, as opposed to what he said he was prepared to do, therefore, he cannot be criticised.”
A spokesman for the First Minister said: ”(The) report is a complete vindication of the First Minister’s position in terms of the case he was prepared to put to promote Scottish jobs and the wider Scottish economic interest.”