'The only show in town': Meyer on the PCC

The Guardian has an interview with Sir Christopher Meyer in which he is forthright / confident /ebullient / self-congratulatory / blase / complacent (delete as deemed appropriate) regarding the position of the PCC, having purportedly been reassured by soundings from the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Of course, this reassurance is fair recognition for the improved performance of the PCC under Meyer's stewardship.

The recent steamings from the palace, however, are treated as an affirmation of the wisdom of the 'friendly counsel' approach of the Commission to newspaper editors (the Mail having pulled its paparazzi shots of the royal couple). Meyer does seem to overlook the explicit threat of reversion to the courts by an exasperated prince, with its attendant risk of a collapse of trust in the regulator and an emergent hard-edged privacy law. Moreover, his claim that potential claimants now prefer the PCC to other avenues is - I am sure many practicing media lawyers would agree - hopeful at best.