Vince Cable took a sideswipe at his UK coalition partners last night over the Leveson report, writes Kieran Andrews.
The senior Liberal Democrat said achieving consensus on press regulation after Lord Leveson’s recommendations would be easier in Scotland “because the Conservatives are not running the Government.”
Mr Cable welcomed the cross-party meeting which took place at Holyrood yesterday as a positive step to mirror the talks held between the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour at Westminster.
He said he was “not comfortable” with David Cameron’s response to the report, however, as he wants a voluntary, self-regulated system for the press with legal underpinning.
He said: “We would have hoped that the Government has a whole would have been able to proceed with most of the important Leveson recommendations.
“What we have is not a good outcome but what we now want to see are parties working together trying to get a good outcome and the press themselves coming forward with a regulatory structure.
“I welcome the talks as I do for the rest of the UK as a positive sign. I suspect there is less of an issue in Scotland because the Conservatives are not running the Government.”