'A criminal cover-up' at Murdoch HQ: Cameron abandons Rebekah amid claims of an email wipe-out



Police investigate claims that News International deleted millions of emails

PM says James Murdoch has 'questions to answer'



Sensational allegations of a criminal cover-up were made against Rupert Murdoch’s faltering media empire last night as the phone hacking scandal reached the door of Downing Street.

Police are investigating claims that News International deleted millions of emails from an internal archive in an apparent attempt to obstruct a police inquiry.

All this came as the Prime Minister made the extraordinary suggestion that Mr Murdoch’s son and heir apparent James had ‘questions to answer’ to police after admitting paying hush money to victims of hacking by the News of the World.

Murdoch HQ: Investigations are underway to find out if an executive deleted millions of emails

In his most difficult day since becoming Conservative leader, Mr Cameron repeatedly refused to apologise for hiring as his media chief ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who was arrested yesterday and held for ten hours.

The Prime Minister admitted he, as well as other political leaders, had been wrong to spend years courting the Murdoch empire – and turned on his horse-riding companion and Oxfordshire neighbour Rebekah Brooks, the media group’s UK boss.

He said Mrs Brooks, editor of the News of the World at the time it is accused of hacking mobile phone messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, should go.

‘It has been reported that she offered her resignation over this and in this situation I would have taken it,’ the Prime Minister said.

Under pressure: Murdoch's empire is slowly faltering and the Prime Minister has turned his back on Rebekah Brooks

In further dramatic developments:

Media watchdog Ofcom said it was ‘deeply concerned’ and investigating whether News Corporation would be a ‘fit and proper’ owner of broadcaster BSkyB, which saw £1billion wiped off its value as investors took fright;

Two independent inquiries were announced into press ethics and regulation and the phone hacking scandal;

Police arrested former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, jailed over the original hacking investigation in 2006, and raided the offices of the Daily Star Sunday where he now works;

Mrs Brooks, who was removed from an internal investigation but clung desperately to her job, told staff that much more damaging revelations were to come in the hacking scandal;

Ed Miliband was dragged into the row as he faced questions over the conduct of his own spin chief, former News International journalist Tom Baldwin.

Mr Murdoch’s decision to close the News of the World in an attempt to save his bid to seize full control of BSkyB appears to have done little to stem the tide of allegations engulfing his empire.

Police are examining claims that a News International executive may have expunged millions of emails from an archive believed to date back to 2005.

The Guardian reported that ‘massive quantities’ of the archive appear to have been deleted on two separate occasions, the most recent in January of this year.

It also claimed the newspaper tried to hide the contents of a senior reporter’s desk after he was arrested in April.

If proven, the acts would appear directly to contradict claims from News International that it has been co-operating fully with police.

They could also be seized upon by Ofcom as it assesses whether the company can pass a ‘fit and proper person’ test for its proposed purchase of BSkyB.

Mr Cameron upped the pressure on the company by suggesting James Murdoch, chairman of News International, has questions to answer from the police over his role in the phone hacking affair and subsequent cover-up.

In an email to staff announcing that Sunday’s edition of the News of the World will be the last, Mr Murdoch admitted approving ‘out-of-court settlements’ to alleged victims of phone hacking, adding: ‘This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret.’ The Prime Minister suggested it might, in fact, be a matter of interest to police.

‘I read the statement yesterday. I think it raises lots of questions that need to be answered.’

Mr Cameron said he took responsibility for hiring Andy Coulson, but surprised some colleagues by repeatedly refusing to distance himself from his former spin chief, who resigned from Number Ten in January.

‘Yes, he became a friend and is a friend,’ he said. I have spoken to him, I have seen him, not recently and not frequently.’

Mr Cameron said he had discussed the hacking allegations with Mr Coulson on several occasions, but never had reason to doubt ‘the assurances he had given me and I accepted’.

The Prime Minister said the wave of allegations about hacking of the families of murder victims and servicemen killed in action by journalists at the News of the World ‘and possibly elsewhere’ was a ‘wake-up call’.

‘The truth is, we have all been in this together – the press, politicians and leaders of all parties – and yes, that includes me.’



News International denied claims that police are investigating suspected deletion of emails by an executive at the company.

A News International spokeswoman said: 'This assertion is rubbish. We adopted a documented email retention policy in line with our US parent’s records management policy. We are co-operating actively with police and have not destroyed evidence.'



PM DEMANDS INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG

David Cameron opened the way yesterday for unprecedented restrictions on press freedom -- saying all party leaders had 'turned a blind eye' to the issue for too long because they wanted to win media support.

The Prime Minister rounded on the Press Complaints Commission, suggesting self-regulation had failed and there was a need for a 'new system entirely'.

He announced an independent inquiry into press ethics and regulation, which is expected to begin this summer.

It will be conducted by a team of experts in the media, law and regulation, and will also examine relationships between senior politicians and newspaper editors and proprietors.

But Mr Cameron appeared to pre-empt its conclusions by saying it would have to draw up plans for a powerful, independent media regulator.

A separate inquiry, into specific allegations of phone hacking and the conduct of police, will be judge-led, but will not start work in earnest until criminal inquiries are complete.

The freedom of the press has been enshrined in Britain since 1694, when a system which meant no publication was allowed without the accompaniment of a government-granted licence was brought to a end.

The Press Complaints Commission has 17 members, of whom ten do not work in the press.

Mr Cameron declared: 'When the inquiries are over, the questions have been asked, and the truth found out I want a police that has proved itself beyond reproach, a political system that people feel is on their side, and a press that is yes, free and rigorous; that investigates and entertains; that holds those in power to account and occasionally -- yes, even regularly -- drives them mad, but, in the end, is a free press that is also clean and trustworthy.'

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said the idea that the scandal had demonstrated a failure of ethics across the industry was 'total nonsense'.

And he said the PCC, like Mr Cameron, had been entitled to believe that the original police inquiry had dealt with the situation thoroughly after the convictions of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman.

'This story is not about media ethics, it's about crime. Phone-hacking is against the law. What's absolutely clear now is that the police didn't look at all the evidence. If they had, the PCC might have come to a different view and taken a tougher stance against the News of the World.





Nervy sniffs and a lot of talk about being honest



By QUENTIN LETTS





David Cameron was put up against the wall and asked: Oi, is that Andy Coulson still your friend? This on the morning Mr Coulson had been arrested by Inspector Knacker and had a police station probe conducted on his DNA. Bend over. Cough, please.

So is Suspect Coulson still your friend, Prime Minister? Eh? Or do you disown him? What a grim world politics is, where friendship becomes a bartering chip.

Mr Cameron: ‘He became a friend and is a friend. You’d be pretty unpleasant if you just forgot about it.’

Still friends? What a grim world politics is, where friendship becomes a bartering chip



Good for him. Ed Balls, when spin doctor Damian McBride was in the mire, disowned his mate faster than coal leaving a shovel. Not so Cameron. Person first, politician second. It’s preferable that way round.

Some government supporters were uneasy about Mr Cameron standing at the Downing Street lectern and thrusting himself into the middle of this strange crisis. Others will say that he played his trump card (himself) and that it worked. I’d say there was something in both theories.

There were small signs of nervousness: he sniffed quite a lot, drank two glasses of water (unless it was neat gin) and kept saying ‘frankly’ and ‘the truth is’ and ‘truly’ and ‘let’s be honest’. Psychologists will tell you that the more a witness claims to be honest, the less that may actually be the case.

I’m a pretty straight kinda guy, Tony Blair once said.

The Cameron chin was having one of its shiny days. There were one or two moments when his brow puckered. But those tics were minor. Generally this was a seamless Cameron, cautiously assertive. He had not lost his sunny disposition.

The BBC’s Michael Crick kept shouting supplementary questions – old Crick is a tremendous terrier in this sort of thing, clinging to a trouserleg like a Jack Russell. Mr Cameron did not lose his temper.

‘You screwed up!’ said Chris Ship from ITV News. Mr Cameron did not exactly demur. But he said it had been reasonable ‘to give someone who screwed up a second chance’. Screwed up. I wonder if William Ewart Gladstone ever used that expression.

Press conference: There were one or two moments when his brow puckered. But those tics were minor. Generally this was a seamless Cameron, cautiously assertive

‘We can do a helluva lot better,’ continued Mr Cameron. This was becoming more like an episode of Kojak by the minute. The expression ‘on my watch’ and ‘on his watch’ kept being used.

BSKYB HIT FOR A BILLION

More than £1billion was wiped off the value of BSkyB yesterday as it emerged that the media watchdog Ofcom is investigating Rupert Murdoch’s suitability to own the company.

The regulator announced it has contacted police to determine whether the tycoon’s News Corp and its directors are ‘fit and proper’ owners of the broadcaster following the recent phone hacking allegations.

Ofcom sources said they were ‘deeply concerned’ over the latest developments at the News of the World and were monitoring the situation ‘closely’.

The watchdog has a legal duty to ensure that anyone who holds a broadcast licence remains fit and proper to do so and can revoke this at any time.

News Corp already holds a 39 per cent share in BSkyB and has launched a £10billion bid for the remaining 61 per cent.

Shares in BSkyB closed down 7.64 per cent at 750p, their lowest in nearly five months.

Ofcom has asked police, parliamentary select committees and the Press Complaints Commission to provide it with any relevant information to help with its assessment.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt paved the way for the BSkyB deal to go through last month when he agreed proposals which will see Sky News run as an independent company. But following the hacking scandal, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has been deluged with an unprecedented 160,000 responses to its consultation which ended yesterday.

He had given Mr Coulson a second chance and it had not worked. ‘People will judge me for that.’ Crafty.



He was refusing to engage in the customary Westminster game of the trophy apology and was instead saying ‘the buck stops right here’. This was a marked change from the ‘nothing to do with me, Mister’ line we used to hear from Gordon Brown.

Mr Cameron said there were ‘some mornings I’d like to close all the newspapers’.



Yet politicians had to mix with press tycoons and their ilk to gain publicity for their policies.

‘If it’s the head of the BBC, the editor of the Guardian or Rupert Murdoch, you do it,’ he said. Nicely done. He had just bracketed two saints of liberalism with the dreaded Digger. It’s hard to know who will be crossest.

‘I am champing at the bit. I want to get these things sorted,’ said Mr Cameron, now in positive-thinking, squash-coach mode.

‘I am absolutely determined to do it.’ He ended with a peroration about how grisly it had been for the Dowlers and other innocent families spied on by the News of the World.

Decent Andy Bell from Channel Five asked a question. Ah, Channel Five. Last time I looked, it was owned by a chap who publishes decidedly slinky magazines. What a richly scented glade media-land can be.

The great prize in this exciting scandal is that immorality is suddenly a non-starter and amorality may no longer be accepted.

