Lonesome, sorry I misread. But you're still way out to equate the freedom of the press in Britain with that in the states. The British libel laws (protecting only the rich and privileged) and lack of any freedom of information legislation (which the Freedom of Information Bill now going through parliament will do little to address) make an enormous difference. Many public figures in Britain have got away with their crimes by threatening to sue, Jonathan Aitken style. As it happens, Aitken's bluff was called and he was proved to have perjured himself. But that was aa a sheer fluke.