Video: Leveson Inquiry: Ian Hislop says state regulation of press is 'unnecessary' Giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into media standards and phone hacking, Private Eye editor Ian Hislop argued that "statutory regulation is not required" for the press. He said that the crimes of contempt of court, phone tapping, and police officers taking money from the media, which had come up in the inquiry, were "already illegal." All of these things don't need a code, we've already got laws for them. "The fact that these laws weren't rigorously enforced is due to the behaviour of the police, the interaction of the police and News International, and the fact that our politicians are involved in ways that I think are not sensible with serious News International people," Mr Hislop added.