Times editor 'wrong over MPs scoop'

The editor of The Times today admitted it was a mistake to reject the MPs' expenses scoop as he launched a passionate defence of press freedom.

James Harding told the Leveson inquiry that he was wary of paying for stolen goods but admitted the story was "in the public interest" and in hindsight he would have paid.

Mr Harding, who has edited The Times since 2007, also rejected what appeared to be the emerging finding of the judicial inquiry - the suitability of a "statutory backstop" for the press, enacted through legislation.

He admitted The Times was offered the expenses material before it was revealed by the Daily Telegraph in 2009.