Parties race for press regulation deadline Politicians were edging closer to agreement on Thursday night on a regulatory framework for the press, in the hope that parts of the newspaper industry would sign up to a revised royal charter after their own blueprint was rebuffed. The last-ditch talks came after Maria Miller, the Conservative culture secretary, announced on Wednesday that she wanted to put forward a "workable" solution to newspaper regulation in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. She set a deadline of today for agreement, setting in motion two frantic days of discussions. Ms Miller has spent much of that time locked in talks with Harriet Harman, the shadow culture secretary, and the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Wallace, as the representatives of the three parties have tried to pull together a cross-party charter the papers might find palatable. The changes are part of a concerted effort by politicians to entice some press groups to sign up to the charter, as publishers such as the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch's papers take steps to set up their own rival regulator. The cross-party charter was drawn up following Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into press ethics, following revelations that newspapers had illegally hacked phones of celebrities and victims of crime in the hunt for stories. The subcommittee of the Privy Council, which this week rejected the industry's proposal for regulation, identified access to arbitration and the editors" code of conduct as two areas in a cross-party charter agreed on March 18 that could be amended in light of press concerns. The three political parties agreed last night that­ pa­p­ers would be able to charge a "reasonable" fee to readers making a complaint to a proposed new arbitration scheme - a move designed to prevent a barrage of complaints from readers. In addition, the parties were close to agreeing that newspapers should be given more control over the editors" code, a foundation stone of the new system. Under these changes, senior journalists from news­papers would make up a bigger portion of the committee that sets the code. Ms Miller and Ms Harman have been ringing editors in the past day to assess whether their proposed changes to the current charter might entice some in the press to sign up. "These are substantial changes," said one Whitehall official. We accept the industry doesn't like the royal charter but we hope it will make them think that, even if philosophically they hate it, on a practical and financial level it is not going to punish them. Some press groups indicated the changes would be insufficient On Thursday, representatives of the press discussed plans to push ahead with the launch of a rival, industry-backed regulator in a move that could see the politicians" proposal shunned. This move is being spearheaded by the Mail, Telegraph Group and Murdoch titles. The Guardian, which had reservations about this press-backed regulator, is now thought to be considering joining, provided certain changes are made. A legal challenge by some press groups over the process behind the creation of the politicians" proposed regulator is also possible with some newspaper groups examining the process behind the creation of the politician's proposed regulator. "Judicial review is always a possibility when this sort of decision has been taken," said one senior editor .