Regulatory trusts at Times are 'waste of time', says Andrew Neil

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Andrew Neil, former editor of The Sunday Times , has called regulatory trusts at Times newspapers 'a waste of time'.

Neil, who was editor of the title for 11 years under Rupert Murdoch, said such bodies cannot remedy bad relations between an editor and owner.

"I don't think a newspaper group or a title can survive and prosper if the proprietor and editor are in a state of civil war, which is why arrangements such as the trusts that The Times and The Sunday Times have are a complete waste of time and regulatory effort," the chief executive of Press Holdings Media, which publishes The Spectator, told the Lords Communications Committee .

"Even if they [trusts] had a more worthwhile role to play - no matter how good the trustees - if you and the proprietor have fallen out of love, your position becomes untenable," he said, referring to his own experience at The Sunday Times .

"I would rather have consulted my driver than the trusts of Times newspapers," Neil added, describing the trustees of the papers as 'a fig leaf' appointed by Murdoch.

However, he said trusts could be 'a perfectly legitimate way of running a newspaper' if no such relationship with a proprietor exists, adding that a range of ownership models create 'diversity' and 'a strong press'.