Senior Tories Michael Gove and Theresa May have this week stood at the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics to state on the record that they stand against intervention in the running of the press with new legislation.
Lord Justice Leveson has already hinted that new laws will form the basis of future press regulation after he presents his report to Parliament later this year.
The Leveson Inquiry was convened in the wake of the News of the World 'phone-hacking' scandal and subsequent revelations that police and politicians may have been unduly influenced by the media.
Speaking at the inquiry on Tuesday Mrs May said that new laws could encroach on the freedom of the press, and may have unintended consequences on democracy.
"Sometimes what is written can be frustrating, sometimes one might question its accuracy, but it's important to let that freedom take place," she told the inquiry.
The Education Secretary Michael Gove also took the witness stand on Tuesday and said he was "unashamedly" against regulation by statute.
Mr Gove gave evidence from the unique position of being a current government minister but a former employee of one of Rupert Murdoch's papers - The Times - where he worked as a leader writer for almost a decade.
On Wednesday Justice Minister Ken Clarke took the stand to give his opinion that the press was now more powerful than Parliament, and that the interest in the lives of politicians was now at a similar level to that of celebrities and footballers, something which he feels may be deterring potential candidates from entering politics.
"We're now in celebrity culture and celebrity culture has as one of its branches the Government," Mr Clarke told the inquiry.
He cited an example of the press tone on crime, which he feels has been the driving factor behind the record numbers of inmates in UK prisons.
"If the tone of the newspapers was different over the last 15 years we'd probably have 20,000 fewer people in prison," he added.
Source:
Tories reveal their opposition to press regulation by law (The Independent)
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