So will two Cabinet Ministers - Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke and the Attorney General Dominic Grieve - as well as the new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission Lord Hunt, the chairman of the BBC, Lord Patten, and the director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer QC.

BBC: An anxious time for the UK's newspaper bosses

Some broadsheet editors, such as Andrew Marr of the Independent and Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian, accept the Lord Chancellor's argument that press freedom would be better protected by carefully considered parliamentary legislation rather than by random court decisions.

ECONOMIST: Privacy

During the debate, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission Lord Hunt of Wirral said he was "optimistic" the media industry could deliver its own regulatory structure without the need for legislation and with "comprehensive sign-up" from across the industry by the middle of 2013.

BBC: Tory plans for royal press charter attacked