The Mirror's associate editor was challenged over the Sunday title's coverage of a Brooks Newmark photograph that led to the minister standing down at the weekend.

Kevin Maguire said there was "huge public interest" in the actions of the married minister charged with getting more women into politics "sending lewd pictures", and arranging to meet a woman at his party's conference.

But the Sun's Tom Newton Dunn revealed his paper, and the Mail on Sunday, had previously turned down the story, and cited new press regulation where "the bar is a little bit higher these days" as one reason for this.

The journalists were talking to Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics about the Conservative MP who resigned at the weekend.

BBC coverage of the Tory conference on Monday

BBC index: Party conferences 2014