Victims of press intrusion have accused the Guardian of surrendering to newspaper editors and owners after the paper backed the appointment of Lord Grade as a mediator in negotiations over press regulation.

In a letter to the Guardian, the group of ten victims, supported by Hacked Off, have urged the paper to stand behind the draft Royal Charter agreed by the three main political parties in March.

The letter followed the suggestion, from Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, that Grade could act as a mediator in further talks to bridge the gap between the three-party proposal and a rival charter put forward by the newspaper industry.