Phone hacking: David Cameron bows to calls for public inquiries

Prime minister says he is ‘appalled’ by revelations about behaviour at News of the World, but BSkyB deal can go ahead David Cameron has bowed to pressure to hold public inquiries into the “absolutely disgusting” allegations of phone hacking by journalists at News of the World, and into the original police investigation into the scandal. The prime minister responded to the outrage provoked by the phone-hacking crisis at the Sunday tabloid after it emerged that Scotland Yard has started to contact the relatives of victims of the 7 July 2005 attacks to warn them they were also targeted by the paper . Pressed by the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, to conduct a full public inquiry, the prime minister said he was “appalled” by the revelations and agreed that it was important that inquiries were conducted that were “public, independent, and have public confidence”. He also signalled that News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB would be allowed to go ahead. He rejected Miliband’s call for the matter to be referred to the Competition Commission, which he suggested would be illegal. Miliband told Cameron he had made a “catastrophic error of judgment” when he hired Andy Coulson as his director of communications. In a dramatic prime minister’s question time dominated by the hacking scandal, Miliband also accused Cameron of being out of touch with public opinion on the issue of BSkyB. Cameron told the Commons that the inquiries could not be started immediately because of the major police investigation currently under way, though he conceded it “may be possible” to start some of the work earlier. “We do need to have an inquiry, possibly inquiries, into what has happened,” Cameron said. “We are no longer talking here about politicians and celebrities, we are talking about murder victims, potentially terrorist victims, having their phones hacked into. It is absolutely disgusting, what has taken place, and I think everyone in this House and indeed this country will be revolted by what they have heard and what they have seen on their television screens.” He said there were two “vital areas” that needed to be considered: why the original police inquiry failed to “get to the bottom of what happened”, as well as the behaviour, practices and ethics of journalists and media organisations. Cameron said it was important that lessons were learned from “what has become a disgraceful episode”. The Labour leader called on Cameron to appoint a senior figure, possibly a judge, to lead the inquiry, which should have the power to call witnesses under oath. Miliband said the investigation should cover “the culture and practices of the industry, the nature of regulation … and also the relationship between the police and the media”. Cameron said he did not think it would be possible to investigate the original police inquiry until the new one had concluded. “Clearly, we can’t start all that sort of inquiry immediately because you must not jeopardise the police investigation, but it may be possible to start some of that work earlier,” he said. He offered to hold talks on the matter with other party leaders, attorney general Dominic Grieve and the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell. But he resisted separate calls by Miliband that the bid by News International to take control of BskyB be referred to the competition commission, saying that to do so would be “illegal”. Miliband said the public would react “with disbelief” if the deal went ahead in the next few days when News International was the subject of a major criminal investigation. But Cameron said the government had followed the correct legal processes, with Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for media, culture and sport, handling the matter in a quasi-judicial role. Only yesterday Miliband himself said that plurality issues were separate from News International ethics. The prime minister also refused to be drawn on whether Rebekah Brooks, News International chief executive, should stand down. Confronted by claims by Miliband that he had made a “catastrophic error of judgment” by taking on Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World embroiled in the latest wave of revelations, the prime minister said he took “full responsibility” for everyone he employs and appoint to work for him. The ramifications of the scandal continued to be felt by the News of the World through other channels as Halifax bank and Virgin Holidays cancelled adverts due to run in this Sunday’s paper. They followed in the footsteps of Ford which said on Tuesday it was suspending its advertising in the paper. Other companies, including the UK’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, have said they are reviewing their positions amid an online campaign urging firms to withdraw their advertising. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Paul Stephenson, also revealed that members of his force face investigation after it was reported on Tuesday night that News International had handed over details of payments made by the News of the World to police officers. He said the documents appeared to “include information relating to alleged inappropriate payments to a small number of MPS officers”. Stephenson said the matter would be investigated by deputy commissioner Sue Akers in conjunction with the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards. He added that no senior officer had been implicated. Given that the reports relate to police payments allegedly made between 2003 and 2007, when Andy Coulson was editor, many commentators have suggested they are an attempt to relieve the pressure on Brooks, also a former editor. One of those put on alert that his phone may have been hacked, Graham Foulkes, whose son David was killed in the 7 July 2005 bombings, expressed his horror at the alleged intrusion and said he wanted to meet Rupert Murdoch . He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “I’d really like to meet him face to face and have a very in-depth conversation with him about responsibility and the power that he has and how it should be used appropriately.” Simon Greenberg, director of corporate affairs at News International, told the Today programme that a meeting between Foulkes and Murdoch was “certainly something we would consider”. Greenberg insisted that News International was being “highly co-operative” with the police. In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, he said the organisation was “very close” to discovering who commissioned the alleged hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone. Asked whether he was clear that the hacking was not commissioned by Brooks, who was News of the World editor at the time, he said: “We are clear.” Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers News of the World News International Newspapers David Cameron PMQs House of Commons David Miliband Hélène Mulholland Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 6, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.