Paul Dacre, Editor of the Daily Mail, could support the legalisation of cannabis, Britain's entry into the euro and the Labour Party without losing his job, the tabloid's owner told a House of Lords select committee yesterday.

Viscount Rothermere, the chairman and controlling shareholder in Daily Mail and General Trust, told peers that he would look for a new editor of the right-wing title only if circulation began to fall sharply.

“We need to allow editors the freedom to edit,” he said.

Lord Fowler, chairman of the Lords' inquiry into media ownership, said that he presumed that the extreme circumstances included “supporting the legalisation of cannabis and joining the euro”, but Viscount Rothermere said: “I don't believe those are extreme enough.”

The former Conservative minister asked whether such freedom also applied to “political allegiance”, to which Viscount Rothermere replied simply by saying “yes”.

Later, Lord Fowler asked whether the hands-off approach “put a lot of power in the hands of the editor-in-chief”.

Referring to Mr Dacre, Viscount Rothermere agreed. “I think it does, but he's a big man.”

In contrast, Sly Bailey, the chief executive of Trinity Mirror, said that the left-leaning Daily Mirror would not change its support for the Labour Party.

She said that she had discussed strategies with Richard Wallace, the Editor, but she added: “I have never asked pre-publication to intervene, or stop any piece, or any kind of campaign.”

Ms Bailey said that existing merger rules, under which even small deals are referred to the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission, did not take account of the impact of internet and other local media.

“Regional newspapers don't take a political stance, and we're frankly baffled why [this level of scrutiny] is a good idea,” she said.