Ian Hislop lays into tabloid newspapers Private Eye editor and Have I Got News For You panellist Ian Hislop has bought his own acerbic brand of humour to the Leveson Inquiry. Quizzed on the magazine's response to the phone hacking scandal and tabloid journalism, Mr Hislop wasted no time in ribbing people who had unsuccessfully tried to sue him, before laying into the news gathering and reporting tactics used by News International and media mogul Richard Desmond. Upon being asked if the idea of media ethics was "confusing" following a previous witness saying he did not understand it, Mr Hislop replied: "Well, that was Mr Desmond. I don't think he can be used as a rule of thumb. He went on to say that there was no defence for phone hacking or journalism without a firm factual basis. Nevertheless, he insisted that there was no need to reform press laws, telling the inquiry that all the laws to safeguard against libel, contempt of court, personal privacy and undercover journalism already existed, and that they merely needed to be enforced.