Chris Bryant tells MPs Scotland Yard had been 'suborned' and effectively become a subsidiary of News International

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP, has claimed that in light of recent revelations the News International phone-hacking scandal could turn out to be the biggest case of corporate corruption in the UK for more than 250 years.

Bryant told a Westminster Hall private members' debate on media regulation on Tuesday that his "poor researcher" had counted 486 lies told to parliament by News International, the police and other organisations about phone hacking and related investigations.

The Labour MP, who received £30,000 in damages from NI in January to settle his News of the World phone-hacking claim, also said evidence given to the Leveson inquiry on Monday suggested that a "culture of mass corruption was intrinsic to the Sun's modus operandi".

He added that Monday's Leveson evidence about the Met's original investigation into News of the World phone hacking also showed that Scotland Yard had been "suborned" and effectively become a subsidiary of News International.

Bryant, who sponsored Tuesday's debate, said the phone-hacking affair still had some way to go before it reached its conclusion. "I suspect we've just crept into act 4, scene 2."

He claimed it was now known that senior figures at News International ordered the mass destruction of evidence. The cover-up went to the highest levels at News International, Bryant said, and this in the end may turn out to be the biggest crime of all.

He also said that directors of News Corporation, News International's parent company, had failed to take their responsibilities seriously enough.

"I suspect that in the end this will turn out to be the single largest corporate corruption case in this country for more than 250 years," Bryant added.

He said: "Why this is a problem for us as politicians is that every single element of the regulatory regime failed."

News Corp's directors, the Press Complaints Commission ("a toothless gaggle of compliant cronies"), the Met, and to some extent the law courts and parliament had all failed to bring those responsible to account, he added.

Bryant singled out Sir Christopher Meyer, who was PCC chairman when News of the World phone-hacking was first uncovered in 2006, for criticism. He said Meyer's chairmanship was "one of the most dismal records of public service" ever seen.

He added that the phone-hacking scandal had implications for the future of media regulation, and the biggest problem related to ownership.

Bryant said the UK needed a "robust and even scabrous press", but one that acted within the law and with common decency.

However, on media ownership, he added: "I think we need to be far more radical. I think we need a cap on how much you can own of the whole of the media world."

Bryant said he believed the language of the "fit and proper person" test for media ownership also needed reform.

He also questioned PCC chairman Lord Hunt's plan for reform of the regime of press self-regulation, saying he did not think the proposal for newspapers to sign binding contracts to adhere to the body's rulings for five years at a time would work.

Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, said recent revelations raised questions about the relationship between senior Met officers and News International and the various police investigations into alleged illegal activity should be allowed to run their course.

"We all need to know what journalists and their agents were up to… and learn lessons for the future," Vaizey added.

He said that was why David Cameron set up a judicial inquiry into media ethics and standards last summer, adding that he did not want to pre-empt Lord Justice Leveson's report on the future of press regulation.

However, Vaizey said it was no secret that the government would like to see a new system of self-regulation for the press that is independent, credible and has the power to impose "proper sanctions" against wrongdoers.

"We haven't ruled out statutory backing for a regulatory system," he added.

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