The Official Secrets Act should be rewritten to protect the press from police heavy-handedness, a justice minister has said.

Robert Buckland QC, the former solicitor general, has called for a review of how the law applies to newspapers following the Metropolitan police’s warnings.

The minister, who is responsible for prisons, said the Official Secrets Act is "vague" and has too many ambiguities.

Mr Buckland told the Telegraph: “The current law contains some limited statutory defences but there are no provisions relating to a wider public interest - it would be worth a review.

"We need to look not at the person [who published] but the nature of the material. If it is journalistic material, that should open the door to a public interest defence.”

Last week Neil Basu, the Met's counter-terrorism chief, issued a warning to editors and publishers not to publish any leaked diplomatic cables as doing so could be a breach of the Official Secrets Act.

Mr Basu is heading a criminal inquiry into the leak of Sir Kim Darroch's cables in which the outgoing ambassador described the Trump administration as "inept" and "uniquely dysfunctional".