Rupert Murdoch and the Corruption of the British Media

[John Simkin]

James Murdoch was told in email phone hacking was 'rife'

Daily Telegraph

4:57PM GMT 13 Dec 2011

Recently discovered emails show that News International boss James Murdoch was sent details in 2008 of claims that phone-hacking was ''rife'' at the News of the World.

But Mr Murdoch told the House of Commons Culture Committee, which is investigating the phone hacking scandal, that he did not read the email exchange forwarded to him by the paper's then editor Colin Myler.

In an email dated Saturday June 7 2008, Mr Myler requested a meeting with Mr Murdoch to discuss the case being brought against the paper by Professional Footballers Association chief executive Gordon Taylor over claims reporters had eavesdropped on his messages.

The News of the World editor warned Mr Murdoch: ''Unfortunately, it is as bad as we feared.''

Attached to his message was a "chain" of emails detailing discussions between News International's legal adviser Julian Pike of Farrer & Co and Mark Lewis, who represented Mr Taylor.

Mr Murdoch and Mr Myler met three days later on June 10, along with Tom Crone, legal manager for the NotW's publishers News Group Newspapers. Mr Myler and Mr Crone say that they told Murdoch at that meeting about the discovery of the notorious "For Neville" email, which proved that phone-hacking was not limited to a single "rogue reporter" on the paper as the company had claimed.

But Mr Murdoch insists that the meeting was simply to authorise an increased settlement offer to Mr Taylor and that he was not shown the email or told that it proved that wrong-doing was more widespread than previously thought.

The email exchange released today shows that Mr Pike wrote to Mr Crone on June 6, following his meeting with Mr Lewis.

Mr Pike said that Lewis had told him Taylor "wishes to be 'vindicated or made rich'. He wishes to see NGN suffer. He wants to demonstrate that what happened to him is/was rife throughout the organisation. He wants to correct the paper telling parliamentary inquiries that this was not happening when it was."

The solicitor noted that Mr Taylor was referring to NGN's position that Clive Goodman - the royal correspondent jailed in 2007 for intercepting messages - was a "rogue trader" acting alone with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

NGN had already offered Mr Taylor a £350,000 settlement, but he was demanding "seven figures plus indemnity costs", which could run to £1.2 million, said Mr Pike, who told Crone he would meet Mr Mulcaire to try to prepare a defence.

Mr Crone forwarded the message to Myler, making clear that details of the hacked emails were contained in what he refers to as "the Ross Hindley email" - believed to be the message entitled "For Neville" obtained by Mr Taylor.

Mr Crone voiced his concern about a "nightmare scenario" in which the PFA's in-house lawyer Joanne Armstrong may be able to sue because voicemails were also taken from her phone.

"There is a further nightmare scenario in this, which is that several of those voicemails on the Ross Hindley email were taken from Joanne Armstrong's phone. We can also assume that she will have seen this evidence and is waiting to see how Taylor's case concludes before intimating her own claim," he wrote.

He said he expected the company to enter a defence that while it "knew of and made use of the voicemail information Mulcaire acquired between Feb(ruary) and July 2005" - the period of the hacking which led to Goodman's conviction - it did not know whether "any of its employees... acted in concert with" him over the following year.

Mr Crone also refers to a tape obtained by Mr Taylor, which the PFA boss alleges records Mulcaire informing someone called Ryan about how to get into his voicemail. But the NGN legal manager says that Mulcaire appears to address the person as "Rial", which "can only be helpful" to the paper's case as it has never had a reporter of that name.

Passing the email exchange on to Mr Murdoch in an email with the heading "Strictly Private and Confidential and subject to legal professional privilege", Mr Myler wrote: "Update on the Gordon Taylor (Professional Football Association) case. Unfortunately it is as bad as we feared.

"The note from Julian Pike at Farrer's is extremely telling regarding Taylor's vindictiveness. It would be helpful if Tom Crone and I could have five minutes with you on Tuesday."

In a response timed just two minutes later, Mr Murdoch said: "No worries. I am in during the afternoon. If you want to talk before, I'll be home tonight after seven and most of the day tomorrow."

In a letter to the Culture Committee yesterday, Mr Murdoch said that he had forgotten about the email exchange until he was reminded of it on December 7 by the Management and Standards Committee set up by NI's owners News Corp to look into the hacking affair.

Mr Murdoch told the Commons committee that he was "confident" that he did not review the chain of emails before or after agreeing to meet Mr Myler and did not have a phone conversation with the NotW editor that weekend.

"Having agreed to meet the following Tuesday, I would have relied on the oral briefing on 10 June 2008 that I have previously described in my testimony before the committee," he wrote.

In a statement released later, Mr Murdoch said: "I was sent the email on a Saturday when I was not in the office. I replied two minutes later accepting a meeting and did not read the full email chain.

"As I have always said, I was not aware of evidence of widespread wrongdoing or the need for further investigation

I cannot see how he is going to survive this disclosure. He is a dead man walking.

[Douglas Caddy]

Neville Thurlbeck: knowledge of phone hacking 'went to the top' of NoW

News of the World's sacked chief reporter claims knowledge of hacking 'went to the top' of the newspaper 'but no further'

By Josh Halliday and Tara Conlan

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 14 December 2011 07.59 EST

Neville Thurlbeck, the sacked chief reporter of the News of the World, has claimed that knowledge of phone hacking "went to the top" of the newspaper "but no further".

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Media Show broadcast on Wednesday, Thurlbeck said: "The News of the World were provided with evidence by me as to where the culpability lay. Now at that point the News of the World were faced with two choices, either deal with the problem or ignore the problem and on that decision rested, I believe, the future of the News of the World."

Asked how his bosses reacted when Thurlbeck allegedly provided them with evidence of wider hacking, he replied that they said: "'Leave it with us'. And eventually they fired me."

Thurlbeck told the BBC that: "It was clear when the 'For Neville' email came about that phone hacking was taking place."

The so-called 'For Neville' email contained transcripts of private messages left by Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor and was compiled by private investigators working for the News of the World in June 2005.

It is inferred that the transcript was provided to, or was intended to be provided to Thurlbeck.

Thurlbeck, who worked under Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson while both were editors of the NoW, has previously insisted that he took no part in voicemail interception despite his name being on the so-called "for Neville" email.

The email came to the attention of the News of the World's lawyer Tom Crone in May 2008 and Crone subsequently spoke to Thurlbeck about it.

In his interview with The Media Show, Thurlbeck was asked who knew about widespread hacking at the News of the World.

He claimed: "I think it went to the top of the News of the World and then no further. It should have gone down the corridor to Rebekah Brooks and then to James Murdoch."

Thurlbeck did not say under which News of the World editor it "went to the top".

Brooks was editor of the News of the World from 2000 until 2003, during which time it is alleged that a private investigator hacked into murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone. She moved to become editor of The Sun and then chief executive of News International.

Coulson was editor of the News of World between 2003 and 2007, when he resigned and was replaced by Colin Myler.

Asked whether Thurlbeck thought Brooks, who resigned at the height of the phone-hacking scandal in July, knew of wider hacking at the News of the World, he said: "I don't think she did at all. I've got no doubt at all that if James Murdoch had have been made aware he would have instigated an investigation into it at the very least and informed the board as to why he was making a record privacy payout to Gordon Taylor."

However, Tom Watson, the Labour MP and prominent critic of News International, immediately cast doubt on Thurlbeck's version of events.

Watson said on Twitter that the interview was "totally inappropriate", adding: "He's appealing his sacking. He told me a completely different story."

The Labour MP said last month before the Commons culture committee that he had taped a private conversation between himself and Thurlbeck, and that the former News of the World reporter said Tom Crone, the former legal manager at the title, indicated he would show the damning "for Neville" email to James Murdoch.

[Douglas Caddy]

News of the World ex-head of legal says he held up key email to James Murdoch

Tom Crone tells inquiry he held up an email suggesting phone hacking went beyond a single journalist in meeting with Murdoch

By James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 14 December 2011 11.03 EST

The News of the World's former head of legal has said he held up the front page of an email that suggested phone hacking went beyond a single journalist at the paper during a critical meeting with James Murdoch to discuss how best to settle a legal action.

Tom Crone told the Leveson inquiry into press standards that he went into the 10 June 2008 meeting with Murdoch, who was chairman of the paper's owner News International, armed with documents that appeared to show that hacking was not the work of a "rogue reporter".

"I think I took a copy of the 'for Neville' email," Crone told the inquiry on Wednesday. "I can't remember whether they were passed across the table to him but I'm pretty sure I held up the front page of the email. I am also pretty sure he already knew about it." Colin Myler, the paper's editor at the time, was also at the meeting.

The email in question contained transcripts of voicemails intercepted from a mobile phone belonging to Gordon Taylor, who was suing the News of the World. It was sent by one of the journalists on the title, Ross Hall, to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for the attention of "Neville", which is understood to be a reference to the paper's former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck.

It emerged on Tuesday that Murdoch was sent an email by Myler ahead of the June meeting which referred to and included a message from Crone referring to the email and the existence of the transcripts. The email chain was published by the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee yesterday along with a letter from Murdoch in which he insisted he had not read the "for Neville" email.

Asked on Wednesday by inquiry counsel Robert Jay QC about the 10 June meeting, which was called to discuss how to respond to Taylor's claim, Crone told the Leveson inquiry: "I certainly took a copy and possibly spare copies of the [legal] opinion." The legal opinion was drawn up by Michael Silverleaf QC and warned there was evidence of a culture of illegal information gathering at the paper. Murdoch told parliament in October that he had been told about the email and the legal opinion but insisted he had not be shown either document.

Murdoch told MPs he had been advised by Myler and Crone to settle the Taylor case because the PFA chief executive had obtained evidence from Scotland Yard that proved his phone had been hacked by the News of the World. He denies he was told that hacking went beyond Goodman and that this was the reason he authorised a six-figure pay-off to Taylor.

At the time, News International was insisting that only one reporter, former royal editor Clive Goodman, had hacked into mobile phone messages, and that he had done so secretly with Mulcaire without the company's knowledge.

Crone said of the 10 June meeting: "What was certainly discussed was the email… the damning email and what it meant in terms of further involvement in phone hacking beyond Goodman and Mulcaire." He added: "This document clearly was direct and hard evidence of that."

Cone said: "I left that meeting knowing that Mr Murdoch was prepared to settle the case if necessary for a bit more than … £350,000."

Myler is likely to be asked about the meeting with Murdoch and Crone when he gives evidence to the inquiry this afternoon. Myler told parliament earlier this year that Murdoch was told about the contents of the "for Neville" email

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson calls NoW emails to women in Max Mosley story 'frankly outrageous'

Judge challenges News of the World's former editor, Colin Myler, over paper's ethos

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 14 December 2011 12.18 EST

Lord Justice Leveson has branded emails sent by the News of the World to two women in the Max Mosley expose as "frankly outrageous".

The judge put it to the paper's former editor, Colin Myler, that the reason the paper's chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, was not reprimanded about the emails was because of the general "ethos" of the paper.

Myler, giving evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, admitted that the emails were "totally inappropriate".

The emails were sent by Thurlbeck to get the first hand accounts of the women involved an orgy organised for Max Mosley. They offered them cash and anonymity if they told their story first hand for a follow-up story.

Myler says he didn't know until Thurlbeck's evidence to the Leveson inquiry on Tuesday that Ian Edmondson, the paper's then news editor, had written the emails.

Myler said: "In hindsight I should have reprimanded them [Thurlbeck and Edmondson] and a letter should have gone on the personnel files."

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Myler why, if he felt the emails were "totally inappropriate" was the Mosley story put forward for "scoop of the year" at industry awards. He suggested that far from being "contrite" Myler was "proud" of the story.

Myler said he was not "gloating" but was "humiliated" by the Mosley victory.

"Let me be clear about this, the News of the World was humiliated by Mr Mosley's court victory," he said.

"I was humiliated and it was a landmark for how tabloid newspapers would have to approach these stories. I wasn't gloating at all," Myler added.

Myler said he thought the News of the World's story on Mosley was justified.

"Mr Mosley was the head of the richest sport in the world. It had a global membership of 120m including the Automobile Association," said Myler.

"As head of that he presided over a huge expansion programme. He should have displayed ethical standards … taking part in orgies that were brutal and depraved and included paying women for sex was not [behaviour] the FIA could reasonably accept."

[Douglas Caddy]

News of the World editor: I felt there were bombs under the newsroom floor

Colin Myler tells Leveson inquiry of mood after Clive Goodman's jailing over phone hacking and Andy Coulson's resignation

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Thursday 15 December 2011 07.35 EST

Colin Myler, the former editor of the News of the World, has said he felt there were "bombs under the newsroom floor" when he arrived to take over from Andy Coulson in 2007.

Myler was parachuted in from Rupert Murdoch's New York Post to take over from Coulson after he resigned in the wake of the jailing of royal editor Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire on phone-hacking charges.

He told the Leveson inquiry into press ethics on Thursday that he knew then that practices at the paper had to be tightened up.

"I felt there could have been bombs under the newsroom floor and I didn't know where they were and I didn't know when they were going to go off."

He said it was evident after the police had removed three binliners of documents and notes from Mulcaire's home that something could explode at any moment.

Myler said the "for Neville" email – the first indication that phone hacking was not limited to one rogue reporter – was one of those potential bombs.

"You mentioned bombs under the newsroom floor," counsel for the inquiry Robert Jay asked: "This was creating a tendency for one or more of those bombs to explode, would you agree with that?"

Myler agrees, and said: "There was no appetite to go back to that place."

The former editor was also asked if he knew if the "for Neville" email was handed over to James Murdoch at a meeting on 10 June 2008, when the Taylor settlement was being discussed.

Myler said he could not recall but that if the paper's legal chief Tom Crone testified that he did, he believed that would have been the case.

"I can't remember if he did that," he said. "I am aware that Crone said in his testimony and I have no reason to disbelieve that he did what he said he did."

Myler also revealed that he had not seen copies of internal emails that proved he and the paper's former legal chief Tom Crone had communicated the extent of the hacking until they were released by the culture committee this week.

[Douglas Caddy]

Piers Morgan to appear before Leveson inquiry next week

Former Daily Mirror and News of the World editor expected to be quizzed about his statements on celebrities and phone hacking

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Thursday 15 December 2011 12.25 EST

Piers Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror and the News of the World, is to appear before the Leveson inquiry next week.

His appearance was confirmed by a CNN spokeswoman in New York, where he is based for the filming of his TV chatshow Piers Morgan Tonight, who said that he would be giving testimony at some point next week.

"He's appearing next week, but we don't have a confirmed date yet," said Megan McPartland.

He is expected to be questioned about his own public statements about celebrities, phone hacking and his experience at the helm of two of the country's best-selling newspapers.

Morgan is expected to give evidence by video link from New York.

Last summer it emerged that Morgan had been lined up to take over from Larry King when the TV host retired from his nightly interview show on CNN.

At 28 Morgan was appointed editor of the News of the World, making him the youngest tabloid newspaper editor in history.

He was editor of the Daily Mirror for more than 10 years but was sacked in 2004 after the newspaper conceded that photos it published apparently showing British soldiers abusing an Iraqi were fake.

In a statement the Mirror said it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and that it would be "inappropriate" for Morgan to continue.

Morgan famously claimed in a GQ magazine interview in 2007 that phone hacking was "widespread" and that "loads of newspaper journalists were doing it" when Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in January of that year.

Asked by the model Naomi Campbell in the interview whether he knew about voicemail interception while he was editor of News of the World, Morgan said: "Well, I was there in 1994-95, before mobiles were used very much, and that particular trick wasn't known about. I can't get too excited about it, I must say.

"It was pretty well known that if you didn't change your pin code when you were a celebrity who bought a new phone, then reporters could ring your mobile, tap in a standard factory setting number and hear your messages. That is not, to me, as serious as planting a bug in someone's house, which is what some people seem to think was going on."

Morgan agreed that voicemail interception was an invasion of privacy, adding: "But loads of newspaper journalists were doing it. Clive Goodman, the News of the World reporter, has been made the scapegoat for a very widespread practice."

A year earlier, in 2006, Morgan wrote an article for the Daily Mail claiming that he was played a tape of a message Paul McCartney left on the mobile phone of Heather Mills. "The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India, and Paul was pleading with her to come back," he said in the article. "He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang 'We Can Work It Out' into the answerphone."

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking was 'routine' at Sun and NoW, Sean Hoare allegedly told brother

Stuart Hoare tells Leveson inquiry his brother Sean, a former News of the World journalist, regularly talked about hacking

By Jason Deans, Lisa O'Carroll and James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Monday 19 December 2011 07.02 EST

Phone hacking was "routine" at the Sun and News of the World, the late Sean Hoare, who worked at both News International titles, told his brother before his death, the Leveson inquiry has heard.

Stuart Hoare said on Monday that his younger brother, whose body was discovered in his Watford home in July, had claimed in emails the practice was "routine at the Sun" and "probably more daily at the News of the World". Hoare also said Sean had told him these were both practices he had witnessed.

In a written witness statement to the inquiry, Stuart Hoare also claimed: "Sean had worked with certain individuals at both the Sun and News International where phone hacking was a daily routine.

"I know this to be the case because Sean and I regularly discussed this and there are emails in existence which support Sean's description of a practice referred to during such meetings as 'the dark side'.

"The reality was that phone hacking was endemic within the News International group (specifically Sean identified that this process was initiated at the Sun and later transferred to the News of the World) and he went on record both verbally and in writing to make this claim."

Sean Hoare started shifting at the Sun in 1990, where he first met Andy Coulson, and eventually became deputy editor of the Bizarre showbiz column, according to his brother's witness statement. He also worked for the Sunday Mirror and People "before finally settling at the News of the World". He left the paper in 2005.

Speaking about his brother's own involvement in phone hacking, Hoare told the inquiry: "Sean didn't realise at the time that he was probably doing wrong. He got carried away like a lot of journalists and was certainly under a lot of pressure from seniors to deliver.

"I think he thought he was producing, he was getting the stories, he was getting his name on the front page."

In his witness statement, Hoare wrote that during his brother's journalism career, "alcohol was always an accepted part of the job, many a relationship/meeting made over a drink, no matter what time of day".

Stuart Hoare was asked by Lord Justice Leveson why his brother thought drink and drugs were part of the job. "I think Sean in his way thought that within the entertainment world, to allow Sean to do some of the jobs, to gain the friendship of certain individuals, Sean felt that he had to be like them. I hate it, I don't understand it, but that's what he did," Hoare replied. "He came close to a lot of celebrities and got a lot of information that benefited him and his employer."

However, Hoare said his brother had probably been away from drink and drugs for "about seven or eight months" when he talked to the New York Times about phone hacking. The New York Times published a story featuring Hoare's allegations in September 2010.

"Sean's decision to go public certainly wasn't motivated by money as he did not get a single penny for any of the articles written in the New York Times. His sole motivation was based on trying to put wrongs right," Hoare wrote in his witness statement.

"Sean, in early 2010, was in an ideal position to blow the whistle on phone hacking as he had been completely sober for the last 12 months and was now self-employed."

However, Hoare wrote that in December 2010 his brother began drinking again "as he became caught up in the phone-hacking scandal".

Concluding his evidence to the inquiry on Monday, Hoare said: "I've found it very, very difficult today not to name names. But the seniors that were involved in the practices that went on know they were involved and know they were in the wrong.

"Sitting here today I've tried to put some of the wrongs right on [sean's] behalf and [on behalf of] his ex-colleagues who have suffered pain and imprisonment."

The inquest into Sean Hoare's death in November found that he had died of natural causes. The Hertfordshire cononer, Edward Thomas, said Hoare suffered from alcoholic liver disease.

James Hanning, the deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, told the inquiry that Sean Hoare had "named about eight people" at the News of the World who he had claimed were involved in phone hacking.

Hanning said he had told him the names in the context of a discussion about an unnamed journalist at the paper who Hoare believed would co-operate with the police investigation into the practice.

"He said 'X will probably sing' … and then he named about eight people," Hanning said. He added that Hoare had given him the impression that hacking had been taking place "as long as he had been at the News of the World, maybe longer".

Asked if Hoare had told him the practice had also been used at the Sun, Hanning said: "I don't remember him saying that specifically." He claimed "he would assume I would understand that to be the case".

Hanning also said Hoare had told him that well-known figures who regarded themselves as friends of senior managers at the paper were hacked.

"He talked about it as if it was just one shot in the locker," he added.

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson Inquiry: Sir Alex Ferguson's medical records 'blagged'

Daily Telegraph

5:52PM GMT 19 Dec 2011

Sir Alex Ferguson’s medical records were “blagged” by the News of the World before being used as a bargaining chip to get stories about Manchester United, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.

Matthew Driscoll, a former sports reporter for the now defunct tabloid, inadvertently revealed the manager’s name while giving evidence to the inquiry into press ethics.

The journalist, who won almost £800,000 in compensation from the newspaper after he was bullied out of his job, described how he received a tip that the long-serving manager was suffering health problems.

“I had been given a tip that a very prominent manager had health problems. I didn’t know how bad they might be or how significant they might be but it was something I had to check out,” he said.

Mr Driscoll said he told the Leveson Inquiry he told his boss he was having difficulty proving the claims, and was later contacted by the sports editor who said he had obtained his medical records.

“I got a phone call back, saying, ‘you’re absolutely right. The story is true. I’ve got his medical records with me at the moment’,” he said.

“He said, ‘it’s nothing life-threatening but I know exactly what it is, what procedure he’s had,’ and I did ask him, 'how was that obtained?' I was told it was a blagging technique.

“I was told sometimes you would get a situation where if an investigator had sent a fax to a GP or a hospital, saying 'I’m his specialist, I need these details,' it was incredible how many times that would get sent straight back.”

Mr Driscoll said Sir Alex was “very upset” about the story and said there was “no way he wanted that story to appear in public.”

He went on: “It was put to Alex Ferguson that we wouldn’t use this information and in the end, it was mentioned to him that we would keep it quiet and we would keep it out of the public domain and because of that, he then started co-operating with the paper.”

Asked by Lord Leveson if there was a deal, Mr Driscoll replied: “You could definitely call it that

[John Simkin]

This story did not receive as much publicity as it should:

The brother of Sean Hoare, a former News of the World journalist who made claims about the paper phone hacking, says the practice was "used widely".

Stuart Hoare told the Leveson Inquiry his brother had witnessed phone hacking at the News of the World and the Sun.

"It was a routine at the Sun and it was probably more daily at the News of the World," he told the ethics inquiry.

Sean Hoare, who suffered from alcoholic liver disease, was found dead at his home in Watford, Herts, in July 2011.

He had alleged former News of the World (NoW) editor Andy Coulson was well aware that phone hacking had taken place. Mr Coulson has strongly denied the claims.

Sean Hoare's brother told the inquiry they had "shared a lot of secrets". He said they had talked at length and exchanged emails about phone hacking and the "strange world" he operated in.

"These alleged practices not only went on at the News of the World but it went on at the Sun," he said.

He said his brother had initially enjoyed working for the NoW when he began in 2001 but was struggling to cope in the latter years, until he was sacked in 2005.

"He got carried away - like a lot of journalists did - but they were under a lot of pressure from seniors to deliver," he said.

Mr Hoare was not allowed to name names at the inquiry, but said the "seniors involved in the practices know they were involved and know they were in the wrong".

Sean Hoare had a history of drug and alcohol problems, but his brother said he had been clean for about eight months before an article about phone hacking appeared in the New York Times in July 2010.

He also said Sean had not been paid for any of the interviews he had given about hacking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16241359

[Douglas Caddy]

Heather Mills: I can categorically state that I never played voicemail message to Piers Morgan

Daily Telegraph

4:25PM GMT 21 Dec 2011

Heather Mills, the former wife of pop star Sir Paul McCartney, said that she never disclosed private voicemail messages from her ex-husband to former tabloid editor Piers Morgan.

At the Leveson Inquiry into press standards it was suggested that Ms Mills may have leaked her own private voicemail messages from Sir Paul to the Daily Mirror when Morgan was editor.

But Ms Mills said that Morgan was using her as a ''scapegoat''.

In a statement, Ms Mills said: "For the avoidance of doubt, I can categorically state that I have never ever played Piers Morgan a tape of any kind, never mind a voice message from my ex-husband.

"Piers Morgan is doing all he can to deter the Leveson inquiry from finishing their important job.

"Morgan is using me as his scapegoat and I would be more than happy to answer any questions that the inquiry would like to put to me.

"As stated in a press release by my ex-husband, he has never insinuated that I have leaked tapes of him to the media."

She added that she would be ''more than happy'' to answer any questions the inquiry had for her about the subject.

Morgan was questioned yesterday about an article he wrote in 2006 detailing a "heartbreaking" message left by the former Beatle for his then wife.

"He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang We Can Work It Out into the answer phone," wrote Morgan.

Although he Insisted it was not "unethical" to have listened to the message he refused to say who played it to him as it would "compromise a source".

Lord Justice Leveson, the inquiry chairman, suggested he may be forced to call "the lady in question" to get to the bottom of the matter.

Morgan, speaking by video link from the US, said it had already been "stated as a fact" that Miss Mills recorded their conversations and had given them to the media.

Morgan, who hosts a chat show on the CNN network in the US, insisted he had never listened to illegally obtained telephone messages while editor of either the News of the World or the Daily Mirror.

He suggested that one private message left by Sir Paul McCartney on his former wife Heather Mills's voicemail, which was played to him, had been leaked by the former Lady McCartney herself.

Lord Justice Leveson told the inquiry that he was "perfectly happy" to summon Miss Mills to give evidence on the matter as it emerged that Rupert Murdoch could also be called to the inquiry.

"The only person who would lawfully be able to listen to the message is the lady in question or somebody authorised on her behalf to listen to it. Isn't that right?"

Morgan replied: "Possibly."

After the judge said he could call Miss Mills to explain whether she authorised Mr Morgan to listen to her messages, he said:

"All we know for a fact about Lady Heather Mills McCartney is that in their divorce case Paul McCartney stated as a fact that she had recorded their conversations and given them to the media."

[Douglas Caddy]

First police officer arrested over alleged payments from journalists

52-year-old woman held at Essex police station after being arrested under Operation Elveden

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 21 December 2011 05.38 EST

The Metropolitan police have arrested a 52-year-old female serving police officer over payments from journalists, Scotland Yard has said.

The 52-year-old woman, believed to be a royal protection officer, is being held at an Essex police station after detectives arrested her at her home at dawn.

She is the first police officer arrested under Operation Elveden, an inquiry into alleged illegal payments to officers which is running alongside the Operation Weeting phone-hacking inquiry.

A police statement said: "At approximately 06:00hrs this morning, Wednesday 21 December, officers from Operation Elveden arrested a serving Metropolitan Police Servive (MPS) officer on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and offences contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

"The 52-year-old woman was arrested at a residential address in Essex and is currently in custody at an Essex police station.

"This is the eighth arrest under Operation Elveden. In linked investigations; 16 people have been arrested under Operation Weeting and one person arrested under Operation Tuleta."

"Operation Weeting is conducting the new investigation into phone hacking.

"Operation Elveden is the investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police. This investigation is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

"Operation Tuleta is investigating a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy received by the Met since January 2011, which fell outside the remit of Operation Weeting, including computer hacking."

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson inquiry: Rupert Murdoch could be called

News Corporation chairman and chief executive could give evidence before the inquiry early next year

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 20 December 2011 13.35 EST

Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, may be called to give evidence before the Leveson inquiry into ethics and standards in press.

Robert Jay, the counsel for the inquiry, dropped a large hint on Tuesday that Murdoch will be asked to appear before the inquiry early next year.

Jay was quizzing Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, about an incident back in 1995 when he was editor of the now defunct News of the World.

The tabloid had just run photos of Victoria Spencer, the former wife of Earl Spencer, in a clinic where she was receiving treatment for anorexia.

That was against the editor's code of conduct and it prompted Rupert Murdoch to issue a rare public rebuke.

At the inquiry Morgan was offering his recollection and "impression" of a conversation that subsequently took place with Murdoch, when Jay cut across him to say: "I can ask him for his impression when we get there."

The Leveson inquiry said it could not comment about future witnesses.

The inquiry was established under the 2005 Inquiries Act and has the power to summon witnesses including newspaper reporters, management and proprietors to give evidence under oath and in public.

News International said it could not comment.

A source familiar with the matter said that Murdoch had not been approached by the inquiry at this stage.

[Len Colby]

Jay was quizzing Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, about an incident back in 1995 when he was editor of the now defunct News of the World.

I saw part of Morgan's interrogation, he was not very convincing. He heard a private voicemail but claimed to unaware of any wrongdoing.

[Douglas Caddy]

Blog: What a remarkable year for the press...

By Roy Greenslade

Guardian

December 22, 211

This year will be recorded as a landmark in the history of Britain's national newspapers. The second half of 2011 was, by any standards, remarkable.

Look at what happened following the 4 July revelation in The Guardian that Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked.

News International went into meltdown. It closed the News of the World. Its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, resigned. Its former chief, Les Hinton, resigned.

Rupert Murdoch appeared before MPs to say it was the most humbling day of his life. His son, James, was forced to make two appearances and, in the process, showed a lack of humility.

He suffered the indignity of investors in both News Corp and BSkyB voting against him.

Scotland Yard lost its chief and another senior officer amid criticism of its handling of phone hacking evidence in its possession for for five years.

The Met police, in seeking to make up for its previous failings, launched three separate inquiries. Some 18 arrests have followed.

Scores of hacking victims launched actions against News International, with several receiving many thousands of pounds in settlements. The Dowler family were given £3m.

And then, of course, there was - and is - the judicial inquiry led by Lord Justice Leveson. None of the past royal commissions have pursued the press as rigorously as the Leveson inquiry.

I explored this astonishing turn of events in my London Evening Standard column yesterday. But, as I write, it is far from the only story about the state of the press...

[Douglas Caddy]

Leveson Inquiry: Piers Morgan's evidence called into question

Daily Telegraph

By Andy Bloxham

6:00AM GMT 22 Dec 2011

Heather Mills yesterday denied playing Piers Morgan a telephone message from her former husband Sir Paul McCartney.

In a statement, the former Lady McCartney directly contradicted evidence which Mr Morgan gave to the Leveson Inquiry into journalistic standards.

She said she could "categorically state" she had "never ever" played Mr Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, "a tape of any kind, never mind a voice message from my ex-husband".

The statement undermined Mr Morgan’s bullish performance at the inquiry, which was further called into question by evidence from a former employee.

James Hipwell, who was convicted and jailed for share price manipulation, said Mr Morgan must have known about mobile phone hacking by journalists working for him as it was so commonplace.

He told Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry that hacking was so widespread it was “a bog-standard journalistic tool”.

Hipwell, who was described during the hearing as “an acknowledged xxxx”, said he had seen showbusiness reporters for the paper hack phones “every day” to get stories and said Mr Morgan must have known about it.

He said: “Looking at his style of editorship, I would say it was very unlikely that he didn't know it was going on because there wasn't ever much he didn't know about.

“He took a very keen interest in the work of his journalists. Showbusiness is very close to his heart.”

He also disclosed that a colleague had attempted to hack the phone of Mr Morgan himself but he did not know if it had been successful.

Hipwell, who worked at the newspaper between 1998 and 2000, added: "The openness and frequency of their hacking activities gave me the impression that hacking was considered a bog-standard journalistic tool for getting information."

He said: "I don't think the illegality of it was ever even considered. It just seemed to be fair game, fair play, any means to get a story."

Mr Hipwell was given a six-month prison sentence in February 2006 for making nearly £41,000 by mentioning stocks in the Daily Mirror's City Slickers column and then selling them as values rose.

Mr Morgan, who hosts a chat show on the CNN network in the US, insisted on Tuesday that he had never listened to illegally obtained telephone messages while editor of either the Daily Mirror or the News of the World.

Instead, he suggested that a private message left by Sir Paul on his former wife Heather Mills’s voicemail, which was played to him and featured the musician singing We Can Work It Out, had been leaked by her.

When pressed by Robert Jay QC, the counsel to the inquiry, Mr Morgan refused to say when or where he heard the message because he wanted to protect a “source”.

The potentially damaging claims against Mr Morgan were among several related developments which took place yesterday.

Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s former director of communications and a former editor of the News of the World, lost his battle at the High Court to get News Group Newspapers, a News International subsidiary, to pay his legal fees over the phone hacking scandal.

However, Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator employed by the News of the World, won a similar action against NGN which means they must continue to pay his legal fees because they had wrongly terminated an agreement between them to do so.

In his ruling, Sir Andrew Morritt, the Chancellor of the High Court, said: “They are, as they always were, in it together."

The inquiry was adjourned until January 9.