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It provided solid proof for his claims that he and others were unfairly victimised by red-top reporters and investigators desperate for celebrity scoops.

The Conservatives have also produced a series of leaflets with different names in the style of red-top tabloid newspapers.

"Keen to make a name in Britain, her U.K. publicist had all but begged me — then a showbusiness journalist for a red-top newspaper – to meet the actress for a drink," Hind said.

The financials are more convoluted than the red-top headlines suggest, but they are nothing compared with the ethical conundrum.

Against the odds, the "red-top" tabloid had became the UK's biggest-selling newspaper by 1980, overtaking the Daily Mirror, after adopting controversial features such as putting a topless model on page three.