Trinity Mirror CEO Simon Fox has put out an extremely robust defence of the Sunday Mirror/Brooks Newmark story:

“Whilst this has attracted a barrage of negative comment and the threat of an IPSO investigation, we believe that we were right to publish this story on public interest grounds.

If you have only read or heard the coverage rather than read The Sunday Mirror itself, you will have been left with a very wrong impression of what we did. Most importantly we did not publish any photographs of the women in the story. Nor did we list any names of any MPs other than Brooks Newmark.

The images of the women that you have seen widely reproduced were put there by other publications. The same goes for other MPs including those who have said that they will complain to IPSO.

Mr Brooks Newmark was not just an MP but a Minister (for civil society), with security clearance who took a role in foreign affairs and was co-founder for the campaign group ‘Women2Win’, an initiative designed to get more women into politics.

We acquired this story from a reputable freelance reporter who had set up a fake Twitter account as a Tory PR woman under the name of ‘Sophie’. She/he ‘followed’ on Twitter a number of MPs, celebrities and news organisations.

It is significant that it was Brooks Newmark who initiated the move away from the public forum and into private communication with ‘Sophie’. Since publication of our story and his resignation Mr Newmark has said that he ‘has nobody to blame but himself’.”

Ironically Guido understands that it is Buzzfeed and the Daily Telegraph who have attracted the ire of lawyers acting for parties unnamed by this blog or the Sunday Mirror. In fact one of those innocent parties will be writing for the Sunday Mirror about how she feels about her treatment at the hands of Buzzfeed and the Daily Telegraph..