Sleaze watchdog to probe hacking

Sep 9 2010

MPs have referred the News of the World phone-hacking row to the parliamentary sleaze watchdog for further investigation.

Authorisation for the Standards and Privileges Committee to launch a probe was nodded through the Commons without a formal vote.

The move followed an hour-long debate sparked by Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant, who insisted that MPs should not be "supine" amid allegations that their phones were hacked.

Mr Coulson has always denied any knowledge of the illegal eavesdropping at the News of the World, for which ex-royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007.

The News International-owned paper insists the Goodman case was isolated and there was no widespread culture of wrongdoing among staff.

Mr Bryant told the Commons he was one of the MPs who had contacted the Metropolitan Police and been told that he was on a list of those allegedly targeted by Mulcaire.

But he said he suspected that was the "tip of the iceberg" and hacking extended not just to Labour MPs but also to Liberal Democrats and Tories.

The committee should not "shy away" from asking the Commons to enforce any decisions it made - including calling someone to the Bar of the House for a public dressing-down.

Commons Leader Sir George Young backed the call for the issue to be referred to the committee, chaired by Labour's Kevin Barron. "It's right that the matter is referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges who have the powers to consider it," he told MPs.

"I know that (committee chair Kevin Barron) and his committee will do their best to determine this issue, navigating carefully among the other inquiries that may be under way at the same time - including the possibility of further inquiries by the Metropolitan Police."