Guardian wins case over Cash for Honours Injunction

So the Guardian finally manages to break the cash for honours injunction.To be fair the story had been in the domain for a couple of days and the judge faced with this fact was left with little alternative.

Alan Rushbridger being interviewed on the today programme this morning told of the bizarre moment on the phone last night when the lawyer for the attorney general asked whether the delivery drivers had mobile phones and could be called back.

At this point the judge realised the naivety of trying to prevent publication

In the same interview he doubted whether the story will hamper the police investigation into the enquiry.

This is what Alan says in the paper this morning:

The Guardian was today given a significant story about the cash for honours inquiry which we checked both with Lord Levy and with the police. Our story was referred to the attorney general's office, who told us it was "similar" to another story which was the subject of an injunction. We asked to see the court order and were told it was confidential to the parties to the original action.
"The story was well-sourced and clearly in the public interest. In this country there is a well-established principle that the state cannot exercise prior restraint on newspapers. If the attorney general - who may be a player in this action - is seeking to gag newspapers he must give the precise reason for doing so. In the absence of any specific details we decided to publish. "Secret orders and prior restraint on the press have no place in an open society."