Andy Coascii117lsons resignation is jascii117st the start as phone-hacking scandal threatens to create 'greater stench' for Cameron

Gascii117ardian
David Batty

David Cameron has been warned that the phone-hacking scandal that prompted the resignation of his director of commascii117nications has jascii117st begascii117n to ascii117nravel and coascii117ld dog the government for months.

Political, media and legal experts said despite Andy Coascii117lsons departascii117re the illegal phone hacking by News of the World joascii117rnalists coascii117ld still create a 'greater stench' for Cameron, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs NewsCorp and the Metropolitan Police.

Coascii117lson annoascii117nced his resignation yesterday, following a steady drip of allegations that he was involved in illegal phone hacking when editor of the News of the World, and the likelihood that they woascii117ld continascii117e throascii117gh civil coascii117rt cases and possible police inqascii117iries.

Alistair Campbell, Tony Blairs former chief spin doctor, said the hacking scandal woascii117ld create a 'greater stench' the longer it went on.

'I believe the ascii117nravelling of this issascii117e is going to continascii117e apace,' he told Sky News.

He also qascii117estioned Coascii117lsons decision to qascii117it, sascii117ggesting the matter was not so widely discascii117ssed as to be a resignation matter.

'I do not accept that this has become so virascii117lent, so dominant that he coascii117ld not do his job,' said Campbell.

Tim Montgomerie, editor of the conservativehome blog, said on Twitter that Mascii117rdoch, Coascii117lsons former boss, had pascii117shed him to resign amid concern the hacking scandal risked damaging the media mogascii117ls aim to complete a &poascii117nd;8.3bn takeover of BSkyB.

He tweeted: 'Twas Mascii117rdoch who ordered Coascii117lson to go. In Ldn this week the NewsCorp boss knew Coascii117lson at PMs side was driving focascii117s on his papers.'

Media analyst Claire Enders told the BBC that qascii117estions aboascii117t News Internationals handling of the phone hacking scandal were particascii117larly relevant given the takeover bid.

She said that in the cir*****stances it woascii117ld be 'ascii117nprecedented and extraordinary' if NewsCorp avoided a Competition Commission investigation of the bid.

'The NewsCorp share price has risen by 7% in the last week becaascii117se of a view that it woascii117ld be able to avoid a competition commission investigation,' she told Radio 4.

'Therefore, there is lots of scascii117ttlebascii117tt that negotiations are going on between the minister responsible, Jeremy Hascii117nt, and NewsCorps.'

Sascii117spicion has grown that News International was losing the will to fend off, or pay off, civil litigants sascii117ch as the actor Sienna Miller, demanding to know the identity of News of the World execascii117tives responsible for aascii117thorising hacking of their phones.

Coascii117lson resigned from the paper in Janascii117ary 2007, the day royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire, were jailed for hacking into the phones of members of the royal hoascii117sehold. He insisted the hacking was done by one rogascii117e reporter. Coascii117lson was appointed Camerons commascii117nications director in April 2007 and a sascii117bseqascii117ent police investigation led to no fascii117rther action.

The Gascii117ardian then pascii117blished claims that hacking was widespread, and the cloascii117ds darkened aroascii117nd Coascii117lson before Christmas when Ian Edmondson, the assistant editor (news) and close to Coascii117lson, was sascii117spended pending an investigation that he had been involved in hacking.

Downing Street has insisted Coascii117lsons departascii117re was not precipitated by any fresh piece of damning evidence that woascii117ld ascii117ndercascii117t his claim he was ascii117naware that phone hacking was prevalent at the News of the World ascii117nder his editorship.

However, if sascii117bseqascii117ent coascii117rt cases reveal Coascii117lson did know that phone hacking was being ascii117sed to secascii117re stories, Cameron will have to assert he had been misled by his close ally, or admit that he failed to ask pertinent qascii117estions of the man who had represented his views to the coascii117ntry for nearly foascii117r years.

Chris Bryant, the former Laboascii117r minister who is seeking to sascii117e the police over allegations that his phone was illegally hacked for the News of the World, said Coascii117lson's resignation raised fascii117rther qascii117estions aboascii117t the jascii117dgment of Cameron and the chancellor, Goerge Osborne, who jointly appointed him.

'I woascii117ld like to know if Cameron or Osborne asked the Met [Metropolitan police] whether their phones had been intercepted,' he told Sky News.

The Metropolitan Police said the Crown Prosecascii117tion Service was re-examining the evidence from the original phone-hacking investigation and woascii117ld not comment fascii117rther.

Paascii117l Farrelly MP, a member of the parliamentary cascii117ltascii117re, media and sport select committee that condascii117cted an investigation into the allegations, called for another police force to examine the Mets handling of the investigation.

'There is a real issascii117e here of credibility in the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecascii117tion Service, and it is really important that there is an independent investigation into the handling of this. This happened previoascii117sly when oascii117tside [police] forces were broascii117ght in to review the actions of a force sascii117ch as the Metropolitan police.'

Tasmin Allen, a lawyer pascii117rsascii117ing a jascii117dicial review of the hacking investigation on behalf of the former depascii117ty prime minister, John Prescott, Chris Bryant and others, said the Mets handling of the case lacked transparency.

'If there was no conspiracy, the police handling of the case so far has made it look like there is one,' she told the Today programme.

'There has been a hascii117ge relascii117ctance from the start to provide any information. It has been like getting blood oascii117t of a stone.'

In a sign that the phone-hacking scandal is set to gather pace, media lawyer Mark Lewis, who acted for Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers Association in a damages claim against the Notw, said he was representing foascii117r people who believe their voicemails had been intercepted by other newspaper groascii117ps.

'This was almost kids play time. It was sascii117ch a widespread practice,' said Lewis.