Broad powers for UK hacking inquiry

13 July 2011 Last updated at 15:12 GMT David Cameron told MPs if Andy Coulson lied he should be prosecuted

The judge leading the phone hacking inquiry will have powers to call media proprietors, editors and politicians to give evidence under oath, the PM said.

Lord Justice Leveson will oversee the public inquiry into the News of the World scandal and media regulation.

David Cameron said those who sanctioned wrongdoing should have no further role in running a media company in the UK.

The family of murdered Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked, said they were "delighted" at the inquiry.

The prime minister held talks in Downing Street with Milly's parents, Bob and Sally Dowler, and sister Gemma - the third such meeting the family has had with senior politicians since revelations emerged that Milly's phone messages were allegedly accessed after she went missing in 2002.

Meanwhile, NoW's parent company News Corporation has dropped its bid to take full control of BSkyB.

Following fresh revelations about alleged malpractice at News International - News Corp's UK newspaper arm - Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had referred the company's bid to acquire the 61% of shares it does not already own in the broadcaster to the Competition Commission.

The Commons was due to debate a Labour motion - backed by the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and smaller parties, calling on Rupert Murdoch's company to drop its bid.

Meeting editors Continue reading the main story Culture, practices and ethics of the pressTheir relationship with the policeFailure of current regulationContacts made and discussions between national newspapers and politiciansWhy previous warnings about press misconduct were not heededIssue of cross-media ownershipIn a statement, Lord Justice Leveson said his "inquiry must balance the desire for a robustly free press with the rights of the individual while, at the same time, ensuring that critical relationships between the press, Parliament, the government and the police are maintained".

He added: "The press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life. That is why any failure within the media affects all of us."

Earlier, Mr Cameron told MPs the inquiry would begin as "quickly as possible" and would be in two parts - an investigation of wrongdoing in the press and the police and a review of regulation in the press.

He said Lord Justice Leveson, assisted by a panel of senior independent figures, would make recommendations for a better way of regulating the press which "supports their freedom, plurality and independence from government but which also demands the highest ethical and professional standards".

He will also make recommendations about the future conduct of relations between politicians and the press.

Mr Cameron told MPs he will require all ministers and civil servants to record meetings with senior editors and media executives to help make the UK government "one of the most open in the world".

Mr Miliband welcomed the proposals, arguing it must be imposed retrospectively, so that he and Mr Cameron publish all details of meetings with media executives dating back to the last general election.

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Lord Justice (Sir Brian) Leveson became a barrister in 1970 and a QC 16 years later.

The 62-year-old was made a High Court judge in 2000 and appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2006. He was senior presiding judge there from 2006 to 2009 and now, as chairman of the Sentencing Council, is responsible for criminal sentencing policy in England and Wales.

Lord Justice Leveson is well known for being the barrister who led the prosecution case against serial killer Rose West, who was jailed in 1995 for the murder of 10 women and girls.

He was also the judge during the 2006 trial over the murder of 10-year-old London schoolboy Damilola Taylor.

In March, the Sun, a News International title, called him a "softie" for "introducing proposals to let 4,000 assault convicts a year go free rather than face jail".

Mr Cameron was previously criticised for meeting Mr Murdoch in Downing Street soon after the election, partly because Mr Murdoch did not walk through the front door.

Newspapers which did not support the government ran stories of "secret meetings".

Earlier, at prime minister's questions, Mr Cameron said a "firestorm" was engulfing parts of the media and police, and those who had committed offences must be prosecuted.

Mr Miliband said it was an insult to the family of Milly Dowler that Rebekah Brooks was still News International's chief executive.

Mr Cameron responded: "She was right to resign, that resignation should have been accepted. There needs to be root and branch change at this entire organisation.

"What has happened at this company is disgraceful - it's got to be addressed at every level."

Mr Cameron also told MPs that his former head of communications Andy Coulson should be prosecuted if it is proved that he lied when he claimed to know nothing about phone hacking at the News of the World while he was editor.

On Tuesday, Mr Cameron met Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband at Downing Street to discuss the hacking scandal.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson is believed to have updated the three men on the current state of the police inquiry into hacking claims when he visited Number 10.

In other developments:

Mark Lewis, solicitor: "The Dowlers are delighted that there will be a full, judge-led inquiry"

Meanwhile, Labour's communications chief Tom Baldwin is facing renewed questions over claims he handled private information which was gained illegally during his years at the Times newspaper, another News International publication.

The former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft makes the allegations in a blog posting on ConservativeHome, which he owns. Mr Baldwin has not responded to the claims.

On Tuesday, former senior police officers told MPs the original inquiry into phone hacking did not get the attention it deserved because other duties would have been neglected, and News International failed to co-operate with them.

Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said it was now time for News International to explain themselves - as the police had done, and hand over any evidence of corruption among police officers.

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Strauss-Kahn Paris inquiry begins

8 July 2011 Last updated at 10:26 GMT Mr Strauss-Kahn was recently freed from house arrest in New York French prosecutors have started a preliminary inquiry into a writer's claim that former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003.

Detectives have been assigned to investigate the complaint lodged by Tristane Banon.

She says Mr Strauss-Kahn assaulted her in a Paris flat as she attempted to conduct an interview with him.

Separately, he denies charges of sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid on 14 May.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was recently freed from house arrest in the US city after the credibility of his accuser's evidence came into question.

It was shortly after Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York that Ms Banon came forward to say that he had tried to assault her eight years ago.

He responded by saying he would sue Ms Banon for making false statements.

Under French law, the charge of attempted rape carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail. However, the prosecutors' inquiry may not lead to formal charges.

'Wrestled'

Ms Banon - the god-daughter of Mr Strauss-Kahn's second wife, Brigitte Guillemette - has claimed that during the interview in 2003, Mr Strauss-Kahn said he would only speak to her if she held his hand.

Continue reading the main story 2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency of "seduction to the point of obsession"2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with IMF colleague; he admits an "error of judgement"2011: Mr Strauss-Kahn arrested on 14 May in New York, accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid 16 May: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in an interview nearly a decade before1 July: Mr Strauss-Kahn freed without bail from New York house arrestAccording to her version of events, she eventually had to fight him off as they wrestled on the floor and he undid her bra and pulled open her jeans.

"When I realised that he really wanted to rape me, I started kicking him with my boots. I was terrified," she said in an interview published in French weekly L'Express.

She said she had not pursued the case eight years ago because at the time, "everyone told me it would never succeed".

But she said that following the allegations in New York there was "perhaps a chance to finally be listened to".

"If I want one day to put an end to this hell that has lasted eight years, it needs to be tried in court," she added.

"I'm well aware that in these kinds of cases, where it's one person's word against another - without even mentioning people who are that powerful - suspects are often released."

Mr Strauss-Kahn had been a leading contender to be the French Socialist Party's presidential candidate before his arrest in May.

Ms Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, herself a politician from Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party, said she had persuaded her daughter not to file a complaint at the time of the alleged incident.

But Ms Mansouret has said she is "revolted" by the gleeful reaction of many men in France to news the case in New York might fail.

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Judge to head UK phone hack inquiry

8 July 2011 Last updated at 15:39 GMT David Cameron: ''The buck stops right here''

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been arrested by police investigating phone hacking and corruption allegations.

And ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman, jailed in 2007 for phone hacking, has been arrested over corruption claims.

It came as Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to employ Mr Coulson and announced two inquiries - one led by a judge - into the scandal.

Mr Coulson has denied any knowledge of phone hacking while he was NoW editor.

The controversy has raised questions about the proposed takeover of satellite broadcaster BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's New Corporation, the ultimate owner of the News of the World.

And broadcasting regulator Ofcom has now written to the chairman of the Commons culture committee highlighting its duty to ensure that anyone holding a broadcasting licence is a "fit and proper" person to do so.

The letter says "in considering whether any licensee remains a fit and proper person to hold broadcasting licences Ofcom will consider any relevant conduct of those who manage and control such a licence".

Fresh revelations

Mr Coulson, 43, was arrested at 1030 BST on Friday by detectives investigating allegations of hacking the phones of various people in the news and is also being questioned about corruption allegations.

He was arrested by appointment at a south London police station and is in custody.

A number of suited men, thought to be police officers, entered Mr Coulson's south London home with large plastic crates at about 1200 BST.

Continue reading the main story Operation Weeting - investigating phone hacking or intrusion into the private lives of hundreds of people. They aim to contact all those whose personal details were found in documents seized in 2006 Operation Elveden - investigating alleged police corruption. Documents handed over by News International on 20 June were assessed by police as including "information relating to alleged inappropriate payments to a small number of officers". And, following his arrest, Goodman, 53, is understood to be being held at a south London police station, although not the same one as Mr Coulson.

Mr Cameron said of Mr Coulson: "I became friends with him and I think he did his job for me in a very effective way. He became a friend and he is a friend."

In other developments:

Rebekah Brooks is speaking to News of the World staff at the paper's headquarters in Wapping, LondonProsecutors have asked Strathclyde Police to examine specific claims of phone hacking in Scotland by the NoW

News International has said it is shutting the News of the World after this Sunday's edition following a spate of fresh revelations.

The 168-year-old tabloid is accused of hacking into phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians. Police have identified 4,000 possible targets.

Mr Cameron said the judge-led inquiry would look into "why did the first police investigation fail so abysmally; what exactly was going on at the News of the World and what was going on at other newspapers".

"Of course the bulk of this inquiry can only happen when the police investigation has finished. That is what the law requires," he added.

Andy Coulson (l) and Clive Goodman were arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking

Mr Cameron said a second inquiry would look at the ethics and culture of the press and that the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) should be scrapped, adding: "I believe we need a new system entirely".

He also questioned the tenability of Rebekah Brooks as News International chief executive considering she was editor of the News of the World at the time murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone was being hacked.

Mr Cameron said there had been reports she had offered her resignation and added: "In this situation I would have taken it."

In January 2007 Goodman, and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were both jailed for plotting to intercept voicemail messages left for royal aides.

Background check

Mr Coulson, who was the paper's editor at the time, said he took "ultimate responsibility" for the scandal but insisted he was unaware of any phone hacking by his journalists.

He was employed as Mr Cameron's director of communications in 2007 but Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger claims he warned Mr Cameron's team not to employ Mr Coulson.

Rupert Murdoch has resisted pressure to force Rebekah Brooks to resign

The prime minister said he did not remember receiving "any specific action or information about Andy Coulson" but would check with his officials.

Asked if he had "screwed up" on the decision to employ Mr Coulson, Mr Cameron said: "People will decide."

He said: "I decided to give him a second chance but the second chance didn't work. The decision to hire him was mine and mine alone."

The prime minister said a company had been hired to run a "basic background check" on Mr Coulson before he was employed while the Conservatives were in Opposition.

Mr Cameron admitted politicians were to blame for "turning a blind eye" to bad practices in journalism.

He said this was a "genuine opportunity" and a "cathartic moment" both for the media and for politicians and he said the phone hacking scandal was a "black cloud" hanging over Fleet Street.

'Unconvincing answers'

Asked about the decision to close the paper, Mr Cameron said: "What needs to change is not the name of the paper or the letterhead but the practices that go on."

Mr Cameron admitted politicians and the media had got a bit "cosy" but he added: "As a party leader you are bound to want a relationship with the media because you want to get your message over and if that means talking to the head of the BBC, the editor of the Guardian or Rupert Murdoch I will go out and do that."

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the PCC was "a toothless poodle"

Asked about the takeover of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Mr Cameron said Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was following "the proper legal processes and procedures".

He said: "His role is to take the advice of independent regulators and, as his department have made clear this morning - given the events of recent days - this will take some time."

Afterwards the Labour leader Ed Miliband said the prime minister "clearly still doesn't get it".

He said: "He is ploughing on regardless on BSkyB. He failed to apologise for the catastrophic mistake of bringing Andy Coulson into the heart of government.

"His wholly unconvincing answers of what he knew and when he knew it about Mr Coulson's activities undermine his ability to lead the change that Britain needs."

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