Responding to confirmation that the Royal Charter on press self-regulation has received formal, final approval at Privy Council, a spokesman for Hacked Off said:“We are happy that the Leveson Inquiry’s recommendations can finally be implemented, 11 months after they were made, and that the courts have rejected the efforts of the big newspaper companies to sabotage the process. “News publishers now have a great opportunity to join a scheme that will not only give the public better protection from press abuses, but will also uphold freedom of expression, protect investigative journalism and benefit papers financially. “We urge them to take this opportunity. It is what the Inquiry recommended, what the public and the victims of press abuse expect, and what all parties in Parliament have united behind. “The time has come for the newspaper companies to listen to all of those voices, including the vast majority of their readers, and to distance themselves from a past marred by bullying, fabrication and intrusion. “The press should seize the chance to show the public they do not fear being held to decent ethical standards, and that they are proud to be accountable to the people they write for and about.”