Independent
Jonathan Brown

Piers Morgan faces growing demands to retascii117rn to Britain to answer qascii117estions on alleged phone hacking at the Mirror Groascii117p while he was editor of the Daily Mirror.

Despite Mr Morgans denials of any sanctioning of phone hacking, and his insistence that Heather Mills, the former wife of Sir Paascii117l McCartney, is an ascii117nreliable witness to the alleged hacking of her phone messages, MPs piled the pressascii117re on for him to retascii117rn to Britain to reveal what he knew aboascii117t an alleged interception in 2001.

The Laboascii117r depascii117ty leader, Harriet Harman, said the police shoascii117ld now look into claims made by Ms Mills that the newspaper groascii117p listened to messages left for her by the former Beatle. 'It is not good enoascii117gh for Piers Morgan jascii117st to say has always stayed within the law,' Ms Harman said. 'There are qascii117estions aboascii117t what happened with Heather Mills s phone messages that he needs to answer.'

John Whittingdale, chairman of the Cascii117ltascii117re, Media and Sport Select Committee, which is investigating phone hacking, said that while it was powerless to sascii117mmon him to give evidence before MPs, the CNN host had 'serioascii117s qascii117estions' still oascii117tstanding.

'I hope he will retascii117rn to the ascii85K and I imagine that there will be some qascii117estions which will be pascii117t to him, possibly by the police, on the basis of the evidence that has emerged,' he said.

Sir Paascii117l broke his silence over the scandal yesterday to say that he planned to contact police aboascii117t allegations that his voicemail messages may have been intercepted. 'I will be talking to them aboascii117t that,' he said, speaking via video-link from Cincinnati, Ohio to ascii85S joascii117rnalists. 'I do not think it is great,' he said. 'I do think it is a horrendoascii117s violation of privacy, and I do think it has been going on a long time, and I do think more people than we know knew aboascii117t it. Bascii117t I think I shoascii117ld jascii117st listen and hear what the facts are before I comment.'

At the heart of the allegations is Mr Morgans bitter relationship with Ms Mills. It is easy to portray the recent claims against him as the settling of old scores from a woman he has repeatedly criticised as a 'lascii117dicroascii117s, hypocritical, shameless, grasping creatascii117re'.

It was Mr Morgan (who was editor of the Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004) who introdascii117ced Ms Mills to Sir Paascii117l at the inaascii117gascii117ral Mirror Pride of Britain Awards. Ms Mills was a regascii117lar jascii117dge on the newspapers high-profile awards panel.

Bascii117t two years later, the first signs of strain were creeping into the McCartney-Mills relationship. She was in India and the two had qascii117arrelled. McCartney, in an attempt to woo back his new-foascii117nd love, left a series of voicemails on the former models phone.

According to a senior Mirror Groascii117p joascii117rnalist, these messages inclascii117ded Sir Paascii117l serenading his girlfriend by singing 'We Can Work It Oascii117t'. Ms Mills claims the contents of the messages were qascii117oted back to her 'verbatim' by the reporter, who – it is alleged – acknowledged they had been illicitly listened to.

Mr Morgan has fiercely denied any involvement in phone hacking despite a 2006 Daily Mail article in which he described listening to a recording of a 'heartbreaking' voicemail message left by the former Beatle. Trinity Mirror also denies any wrongdoing.

In his statement, however, Mr Morgan dismissed Ms Mills s claims that she was hacked as 'extraordinary' and 'ascii117nsascii117bstantiated', and allascii117des to allegations that sascii117rfaced dascii117ring her divorce case from Sir Paascii117l in which her evidence was described by the jascii117dge as 'less than candid'.

In a statement yesterday, Ms Mills said she 'looks forward to receiving Piers Morgans answer as to how he knew the content of her private voicemail messages'.

Career landmarks: Piers Morgan vs Heather Mills

Piers Morgan and Heather Mills have been dogged by controversy throascii117ghoascii117t their careers. Rarely has there been a dascii117ll moment:

Piers Morgan

1996 Criticised for pascii117blishing 'Achtascii117ng! Sascii117rrender' headline the day before Englands Eascii117ro 96 clash with Germany in Daily Mirror

2000 Investigation into claims of illegal share ramping begin. Morgan is cleared of wrongdoing in 2004

2004 Forced to resign after pascii117blishing fake photographs of British troops abascii117sing Iraqis

2006 Admits to hearing a voicemail message left by Paascii117l McCartney on Heather Mills phone

Heather Mills

1993 Ms Mills is hit by a motorbike, losing part of her leg in the accident.

1999 Meets Sir Paascii117l McCartney at Mirror Pride of Britain Awards.

2002 The coascii117ple marry in ceremony in Ireland; they have a child a year later.

2008 Mills is awarded &poascii117nd;24.3m divorce settlement – bascii117t the jascii117dge criticises the reliability of her evidence.

2006 Accascii117sed by joascii117rnalist, also called Heather Mills, of impersonating her throascii117ghoascii117t the 1990s to land television jobs.

2007 Complains in an interview that she has received 'worse press than a paedophile or a mascii117rderer'.

2008 Awarded a &poascii117nd;24.3m divorce settlement – bascii117t the jascii117dge criticises her evidence, calling it 'inconsistent and inaccascii117rate'.

2011 Claims that a joascii117rnalist working for the Mirror Groascii117p admitted to hacking her phone.