It’s difficult to look at the appalling behaviour of parts of our national press and not call for immediate curbs on the power of newspapers.

The horrible treatment of people like Christopher Jeffries sticks in the throat. Phone hacking dragged journalism through the gutter.

I firmly believe major changes are needed - the worst examples of unethical journalism cannot be allowed to continue.

But the threat of legislation to control the press fills me with dread.

Some are arguing for a “statutory underpinning” of a new regulator, but however it’s dressed up, introducing any legislation to our free press - even to guarantee press freedom - would be open to abuse and misinterpretation.

With the uncertain times we live in, it doesn’t take much imagination to envisage a more repressive future government.

And once legislation is in place, it’s easier for politicians to fiddle with or misinterpret the spirit it was intended for. Just look at anti-terrorism laws used to spy on people with barking dogs.

Most of the scandals should have been covered by exisiting laws. Phone hacking is illegal - sadly it wasn’t enforced by police (particularly the Met) or CPS.

And there are laws on libel (although these are in need of urgent attention).

It was also too easy for some journalists to ignore the code of conduct as our current regulator - the Press Complaints Commission - is pretty toothless.

So I would like to see an independent regulator that every newspaper will sign up to voluntarily. A regulator with power to force apologies (even on the front page where necessary), to issue serious fines and insist on proper rights of reply.

So what’s to stop a paper opting out?

One of Leveson’s best ideas is low-cost litigation bound into it. Those who don’t sign up would risk massive libel costs and possibly “exemplary damages” for being an unregulated publisher.

I also want to stress the difference between national and locally papers.

Most members of the regional press try to behave ethically. Local reporters care about the communities they serve - they’re the communities we live in.