Indy says Press Complaints Commission to close

The Independent reports today that the Press Complaints Commission is to close itself down.

The paper claims that "in a fast-tracked programme that will kill off the name of the PCC, abandon its current structures and governance, and establish a new regulatory body that will be in place well before Lord Justice Leveson delivers his report on the press at the end of this year."

It adds that details of the formal close-down date and the potential names of the new body are expected to be revealed in six weeks when minutes of yesterday's PCC meeting are approved and published.

"Earlier this week Lord Hunt is understood to have told some of his close Westminster colleagues of the imminent demise of the PCC. Lord Hunt discussed the urgent need to have a new authority in place and functioning well ahead of the first draft and any early recommendations from Lord Justice Leveson," the Independent reports.

• MP Tom Watson tweets: "PCC to close itself down,then start again with a new name: Presumably the new logo will have three monkeys."
• Guardian's David Leigh tweets: "Discredited Press Complaints Commission to re-invent itself to head off Leveson."