Boris Johnson Urges Editors To Oppose Royal Charter On Press Regulation

'Stick Your Royal Charter In The Privy!'
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 30: Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, addresses an audience in a fringe meeting in Manchester Central on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference on September 30, 2013 in Manchester, England. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has unveiled a Government plan for long-term unemployed people to undertake work placements in order to receive their benefits. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
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Boris Johnson has called on newspaper editors to rally behind the Spectator magazine in opposing the Royal Charter governing Britain's new system of press regulation.

The Queen approved the Royal Charter last month, which is backed by the three main parties and establishes a body to oversee the country's new press regulator.

Speaking at the magazine's Parliamentarian of the Year Awards, the London Mayor said: "Our ruling parties are daily purged and disinfected by a free press.

"I urge all editors to follow the Spectator's lead in rejecting the Royal Charter and tell the Privy Council to stick its charter in the privy!"

Johnson also took time to praise the Spectator's publisher, BBC presenter Andrew Neil, on "being the world leader of digital penetration".