Guido Fawkes: 'No question' Motorman leak in public interest

Political blogger Paul Staines has defended his decision to publish part of the Operation Motorman files on his Guido Fawkes blog, adding that he had wanted to get hold of the material "for ages".

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Media Show, Staines said he gained possession of the material last week, which features data from the Information Commissioner's 2003 investigation into the use of a private investigator by the press.

When asked whether those who appear in the files should have been informed prior to publication, for which Staines redacted extra personal information, Staines said he did not have "the resources to be contacting every single person".

He added that "in the scale of things" he feels the activities in question are "much more serious".

When asked if he believes the publication is in the interest of the public Staines responded: "Absolutely, no question about it".

However he added that he understood certain activities may have a public interest defence under the Data Protection Act.

As the Hacked Off campaign outlined yesterday following the publication of the material, "nothing in the Blue Book is proof of criminality by the named journalist or newspaper".

Lord Justice Leveson is currently considering requests from campaigners for the files to be made public, with redactions.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham, who yesterday told the BBC he was "very angry" about Staines' decision to publish the files, also appeared on today's Media Show.

He said he has "no intention" of publishing the raw material "without lawful authority".

"If somebody gives me lawful authority I'll look at it," he added.

Brian Cathcart of the Hacked Off campaign, which has called for the files to be released and described leaks as 'inevitable', also appeared on the programme today, adding that he believes the names of possible "targets" should not be published but instead "identified by type".

Graham responded that removing the names would be difficult to assess the public interest, adding it is a "catch-22" situation.

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