Home secretary says it is not for government to decide whether there should be new inquiry into allegations against News of the World
The home secretary, Theresa May, today defended the police investigation into phone-hacking allegations against the News of the World amid calls for the prime minister, David Cameron, to dismiss his director of communications, Andy Coulson.
May said the initial inquiry had been reviewed by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the previous government and “all concluded that the investigation was proper and appropriate”.
As the pressure grew on Coulson – who resigned as the editor of the News of the World in 2007 over the initial allegations – May said it was not for the government to decide whether there should be a new criminal investigation.
“The Metropolitan police have indicated that, if there’s fresh evidence, they will look at it,” she added. “That is the right course of action, and it’s right for the government to await that outcome.”
She said the original investigation had been “complex” and police had been in “regular consultation” with the CPS during it.
The Labour MP Tom Watson, who put the urgent question on the matter to May in the Commons, asked her to confirm whether the former prime minister Tony Blair had made a formal request to Scotland Yard for information over whether his phone had been hacked.
He also made a point-by-point rebuttal of claims from various sources including the police and Downing Street, in relation to the latest reports on the scandal.
• He scotched suggestions that there was no new evidence and pointed out that no one had been “cleared” by the select committee for culture, media and sport, which investigated the affair.
• He counted the involvement of at least six named journalists, countering the claim that only a “single rogue reporter” was responsible for phone hacking.
• He pointed to the revelation last week that News International had suspended another reporter for alleged phone hacking.
• He claimed police appeared not to have interviewed any of the reporters whose names had recently emerged.
Watson warned that the reputation of British democracy was under scrutiny in the light of the latest claims, made by the New York Times. “The home secretary must not join the conspiracy to make it a laughing stock,” he said.
Alan Johnson, the shadow home secretary, quoted the Liberal Democrat climate change secretary, Chris Huhne, who last year called for Coulson to be sacked.
He told May: “I agree with those sentiments, forcefully expressed by her cabinet colleague – does she?”
A series of other Labour MPs including Chris Bryant, who said he found out some time ago from his phone company that his phone had been hacked and told the police, to no avail, weighed in with calls for a new criminal investigation.
The Labour MPs insisted May should instruct police to tell those whose phones had been targeted.
May said: “We should jealously guard the operational independence of the police” and warned that government interference in criminal investigations “was a very slippery slope down which not I, nor this government, intend to go.”
The Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders, a member of the culture, media and sport committee, called for a judicial review of the matter, but May said the committee and the previous government had already investigated it.
Earlier, John Whittingdate, the chairman of the committee, told the BBC he did not think it should reopen the inquiry into the affair.
He said it had already looked at the issue twice and that he would only be in favour of a fresh inquiry if something “really remarkable” came up.
Earlier today, Coulson told police he would be happy to meet them voluntarily to discuss fresh phone-hacking allegations after the assistant Metropolitan police commissioner, John Yates, said the force was considering whether to reopen the investigation.
Friends of Coulson said he had not been contacted by the Met. A spokesman for him said: “Andy Coulson has today told the Metropolitan police that he is happy to voluntarily meet with them following allegations made by [former News of the World reporter] Sean Hoare [in the New York Times].
“Mr Coulson emphatically denies these allegations. He has, however, offered to talk to officers if the need arises, and would welcome the opportunity to give his view on Mr Hoare’s claims.”
Cameron’s spokesman today refused to say whether the prime minister believed Coulson’s denials.
“Andy has made the position clear, and there have been a number of reports over the past few days but none of those reports change anything as far as the prime minister is concerned,” the spokesman said.
Pressed on whether this meant Cameron believed Coulson, the spokesman said: “Obviously he accepts the position … This has been gone over many times in the past.
“The prime minister accepts the position. He has full confidence in Andy Coulson. And he continues to do his job.”
Later, the spokesman said there was no significance in the fact that he said Cameron “accepted” Coulson’s statement, instead of saying he believed it. “That means the same thing,” the spokesman said.
The News of the World accused the New York Times today of being motivated by “commercial rivalry”.
A spokesperson said: “The News of the World repeatedly asked the New York Times to provide evidence to support their allegations and they were unable to do so.
“Indeed, the story they published contained no new credible evidence and relied heavily on anonymous sources, contrary to the paper’s own editorial guidelines.
“In so doing, they have undermined their own reputation and confirmed our suspicion their story was motivated by commercial rivalry. We reject absolutely any suggestion there was a widespread culture of wrongdoing at the News of the World.”
Haroon Siddique
Andrew Sparrow
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