25 November 2012 Last updated at 14:40 ET

Foreign Secretary William Hague says the government should "err on the side of freedom" when considering plans for press regulation.

Lord Justice Leveson, who has been inquiring into press standards, will make his recommendations on Thursday.

Evegeny Lebedev, owner of the Independent newspaper, also said he was "instinctively against" state regulation of the press.

Any new system could replace the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

Victims of press intrusion are calling for an independent regulator, backed up by law, while newspaper editors fear that statutory regulation will limit press freedom.

'Open-minded'

Speaking to the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, Mr Hague said he was a "big supporter of press freedom" but wanted to read the Leveson report before pronouncing on it.

"None of us have seen the report yet," he said.

"So, although I'm a big supporter of the freedom of the press, I'm also a big supporter of actually reading something before you pronounce on it.

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Err towards press freedom - Hague