YOU may read with some indifference the story about Thames Valley Police’s refusal to tell the public how many journalists it has spied on.

But this is not about journalists – who were not always that popular, even before the Leveson Inquiry.

This is about state authorities like the police – and some councils – taking laws and manipulating them to their own ends. And if they will misuse laws against journalists, are you confident they would not do the same to you?

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act was intended to target terrorism and serious crimes, not, with all due respect, a part-time local newspaper reporter who was finding out stories police chiefs did not like.

And by continually stonewalling on this, Thames Valley Police just makes it look like it has even more to hide.