Peter Preston: 'Telegraph was right to pay for information on MPs' expenses'

Observer media commentator Peter Preston today defends the Telegraph for buying the information on MPs' expenses.
He notes that the public and MPs loathe chequebook journalism and that The Times turned down the chance to buy the info for £300,000.
He writes: "Loads of loot for exposing politicians claiming loads of loot? The symmetry didn't seem right. And - since parliament itself would be glumly unloading all details in July - this scoop only offered time, not exclusivity. Slightly piously, then, the Times said no: as did other papers.
"Now the Telegraph - brandishing news of Gordon Brown's flat-cleaning arrangements, Hazel Blears and her house moves and John Prescott's heavy way with toilet seats - has paid up and begun publishing. Good call, bad call? Was it necessary to pay and publish now rather than two months later? Yes. Why let this slither away into the ides of mid-summer when ordinary folk push off to the beaches and ministers traditionally unload their stinking fish?
"Joe Public is voting in three weeks' time. He needs to know about JP's toilet seats and Hazel's flat-screen TVs now. Sign the cheques and batten down the hatches, then: publish and be damned."