David Cameron hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers months after his resignation

PM paid for former News of the World editor to stay over, two months after he quit as media chief amid phone-hacking scandal David Cameron hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers in March, two months after the former News of the World editor resigned as Downing Street director of communications, No 10 has said. In a sign of his determination to stand by the man he described as a “friend”, the prime minister paid out of his own pocket to welcome Coulson for an overnight stay at Chequers. Downing Street disclosed Coulson’s visit to Chequers as it published details of all of Cameron’s contacts with media proprietors and executives since he became Tory leader in 2005. The prime minister had told MPs on Wednesday that he would publish details of the contacts since he became prime minister but he later decided that this should cover all contacts since he became Tory leader. Labour attacked Cameron’s decision to invite Coulson to Chequers two months after his resignation in January, saying it showed an “extraordinary lack of judgment”. Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, said: “This is yet more evidence of an extraordinary lack of judgment by David Cameron. He hosted Andy Coulson at Chequers after, in the prime minister’s own words, Mr Coulson’s second chance hadn’t worked out. David Cameron may think that this is a good day to bury bad news but he now has an increasing number of serious questions to answer.” The prime minister has come under fire for what Ed Miliband described as a catastrophic misjudgment in taking Coulson into No 10 after the election. Cameron said at a press conference in Downing Street last Friday that he had met his “friend” Coulson since his resignation but not recently or frequently. In the past week he has started to distance himself from Coulson after facing intense criticisms for ignoring warnings from Nick Clegg and Lord Ashdown about the political dangers of bringing Coulson into No 10 after the general election. On Wednesday, Cameron told MPs: “I hired a tabloid editor. I did so on the basis of assurances he gave me that he did not know about the phone hacking and was not involved in criminality. He gave those self-same assurances to the police, to a select committee of this house and under oath to a court of law. If it turns out he lied, it will not just be that he should not have been in government; it will be that he should be prosecuted. But I do believe that we must stick to the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty.” This marked a change in tone from his press conference last Friday in Downing Street. Asked then whether he had been in touch with Coulson, Cameron said: “Yes, I have spoken to him. I have seen him, not recently and not frequently. But when you work with someone for four years, as I did, and you work closely, you do build a friendship, and I became friends with him. I think he did his job for me and the Conservative party and then the country – I think he did it in a very effective way. So, yes, he became a friend and is a friend.” When the phone-hacking affair erupted again earlier this month, Downing Street said that the prime minister stood by a statement he made when Coulson resigned as the No 10 director of communications on 21 January. This said that he had resigned simply because the allegations about phone hacking were making it impossible for him to concentrate on his job. The details of the prime minister’s contacts with media executives will show that he had lunch with James Murdoch on occasions which have previously not been reported. They also show, as the Guardian revealed in January, that he visited Rebekah Brooks at her Oxfordshire home over the Christmas period. A Downing Street source said: “We are releasing details of all of the meetings the prime minister has ever had with media executives. This goes right back to the beginning. David took the view that he should release details of meetings with everyone – every lunch and every dinner. This really is an example of transparency.” Lewis said: “I have been asking David Cameron to come clean about his dinner with James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks last Christmas for five months. Confirmation that David Cameron attended this dinner two days after Vince Cable was stripped of his responsibility for the BSkyB deal and in the middle of a quasi-judicial process raises further questions about the prime minister’s judgment. People will want to know whether BSkyB was discussed and what messages were then relayed to Jeremy Hunt.” The list published by Downing Street shows: • The prime minister had a second social engagement with Rebekah Brooks over the Christmas period in addition to a dinner in January at her Oxfordshire home attended by James Murdoch. This was disclosed by the Guardian in January. Downing Street has repeatedly refused to answer questions from the Guardian about this second event for the past few months. • James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, lunched at Chequers in November 2010. • Brooks visited Chequers twice, in June 2010 and August 2010. • Colin Myler, former editor of News of the World, met Cameron in July 2010. • Editors and proprietors of other news groups, including Guardian News and Media, met the prime minister. Andy Coulson David Cameron Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers News of the World News International News Corporation Media business Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 15, 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.