Letter: Press laws: right of reply, leaked reports, the 'Beano' and tame poodles

Sir: All right-minded citizens will applaud your leading article on business ethics ('Good behaviour pays', 12 January), but the same citizens will detect a degree of hypocrisy in a press that continues to shout 'censorship' in defence of its present freedom to publish un- truths and fail to correct them, and its denial of any right to privacy in the interests of the public's supposed right to know.

Obviously, the standards of the Independent are among the highest, but even you, Sir, might like to consider upholding moral standards by steeling yourself not to publish 'confidential' or leaked reports which, by definition, have been either stolen or, at the least, disclosed to you in breach of a legal obligation. There is one on the front page today - and most days.

Yours faithfully,

PETER H. LAWSON

Salisbury,

Wiltshire

12 January