Sir Paul Stephenson: said his position was 'in danger of being eclipsed by ongoing debate about relationships between senior officers and the media' Reuters



Britain's top police officer has resigned and turned on the prime minister in a dramatic escalation of the phone-hacking scandal.

In a carefully worded resignation speech that appeared aimed directly at Downing Street, Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the prime minister risked being "compromised" by his closeness to former News of the World editor Andy Coulson.

Number 10 stressed that David Cameron had not been pressing in private for Stephenson to stand aside. But he was caught by surprise by the attack, which came just while the prime minister was on a plane en route to South Africa.

Stephenson denied that he was resigning over allegations that he accepted £12,000 worth of hospitality from Champney's health spa, focusing instead on his decision not to inform the prime minister that the Met had employed Coulson's former deputy Neil Wallis as a strategic adviser.

"Once Mr Wallis's name did become associated with Operation Weeting [into phone hacking], I did not want to compromise the prime minister in any way by revealing or discussing a potential suspect who clearly had a close relationship with Mr Coulson," he said.

"I am aware of the many political exchanges in relation to Mr Coulson's previous employment. I believe it would have been extraordinarily clumsy of me to have exposed the prime minister, or by association the home secretary, to any accusation, however unfair, as a consequence of them being in possession of operational information in this regard."

To emphasise the point, Stephenson went on: "Unlike Mr Coulson, Mr Wallis had not resigned from the News of the World or, to the best of my knowledge been in any way associated with the original phone hacking investigation."

The shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper seized on that issue saying: "People will wonder why different rules apply for the prime minister and the Met, especially as Sir Paul said that 'unlike Andy Coulson', Neil Wallis had not been forced to resign from the News of the World."

Senior police sources confirmed the attack had been intentional and showed the anger at Scotland Yard that Stephenson has been willing to resign over the scandal while the political class has failed to take responsibility in the same way. An ally of Stephenson said: "The commissioner thought if the prime minister is happy employing Andy Coulson, and Neil Wallis has bid the lowest price, what reason would we have not to employ him?"

Stephenson had been due to appear before the home affairs select committee tomorrow. His sudden exit increases the pressure on assistant commissioner John Yates, the officer who led the phone hacking inquiry, to quit.

The crisis over hacking engulfing News Corporation began to turn toxic for Stephenson on Thursday after the arrest of Wallis, who was the News of the World's deputy editor during the period when it is alleged phone hacking was widespread at the paper. Hours after Wallis was arrested, it emerged that he had worked for the Met.

The Guardian has learned that Scotland Yard chiefs invited Wallis to apply for a senior communications post with the force in 2009, a decision Stephenson was aware of. Wallis was approached to apply for the two day a month contract by the Met, following discussions involving the forces's most senior figures.

A source with close knowledge of the Yard's thinking at the time said part of Wallis's attraction was his connection to former News of the World editor Coulson, who was a leading aide to Cameron, then in opposition and expected to become prime minister.

Part of the Met's thinking was that Wallis's connections would help the force's relationship with Cameron: "One [Wallis] is a lot cheaper and gives you direct access into No 10," the source added.

Stephenson was facing the prospect of a difficult Commons statement by Theresa May, the home secretary, and anxiety expressed by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, about confidence in the Met because of the failure to tackle the scandal.

In his resignation statement , Stephenson stressed his integrity and dismissed weekend claims that it was compromised by accepting a free stay at a luxury health spa where Wallis had been hired as a PR consultant.

Stephenson said: "I have taken this decision as a consequence of the ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Met's links with News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr Neil Wallis who as you know was arrested in connection with Operation Weeting last week.

"I have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of Mr Wallis in phone hacking. Let me say unequivocally that I did not and had no reason to have done so. I do not occupy a position in the world of journalism; I had no knowledge of the extent of this disgraceful practice and the repugnant nature of the selection of victims that is now emerging; nor of its apparent reach into senior levels."

John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister who had called for Stephenson to resign, wrote on Twitter: "I always thought the Met and News International were too close and now we see how close they were. Another green bottle has fallen – more to come."

Peter Smyth, chair of the Met Police Federation, said: "I think it is a sad day for Paul and a sad day for the Met. He is a very private man, I have never had any reason to question his integrity." He has come to a decision based on what he knows about himself."

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who last year described the hacking issue as a load of codswallop, was also furious that he had not been informed of the payments to Wallis until after his arrest last week. He was planning to launch an inquiry into the links between the Met and News International to examine whether the Met's refusal to pursue the phone -hacking saga, and the links with News International. "We need to turn over some of these big flat rocks and find out what is underneath," Johnson said last night.

He said he was sad about Sir Paul's resignation, but thought it was "the right call" since he was likely to be distracted by the speculation about his links with News International. Cameron said: "Sir Paul Stephenson has had a long and distinguished career in the police, and I would like to thank him for his service over many, many years. Under his leadership, the Metropolitan police made good progress in fighting crime, continued its vital work in combating terrorism, and scored notable successes such as the policing of the royal wedding."