News International has welcomed the public inquiries ordered by David Cameron into press practices and the conduct of the original police inquiry into hacking, and Rupert Murdoch described the acts his journalists are accused of committing as "deplorable and unacceptable".

But News International have not always been as ready to acknowledge possible abuses by it's staff. These are some of the statements made by Murdoch executives - as well as police and the PCC - about hacking allegations against the News of the World.

January 2007

Les Hinton, then executive chairman of News International, to the culture and media committee

In response to a question from committee chairman John Wittingdale on whether NI had carried out a "full, rigorous internal inquiry" and whether he was "absolutely convinced that Clive Goodman was the only person who knew what was going on?", Les Hinton said:

"Yes, we have and I believe he was the only person, but that investigation, under the new editor, continues."

February 2007

Rupert Murdoch

"If you're talking about illegal tapping by a private investigator, that is not part of our culture anywhere in the world, least of all in Britain."

February 2008

Stuart Kuttner, managing editor of the News of the World, on Radio

"It happened once at the News of the World. The reporter was fired; he went to prison. The editor resigned."

July 2009

News International statement following publication of first Guardian hacking story by Nick Davies

"All of these irresponsible and unsubstantiated allegations against News of the World and other News International titles and its journalists are false."

July 2009

Letter from Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the Sun, to John Wittingdale, chairman of the culture and media committee, in response to Guardian allegations

"The Guardian coverage has, we believe, substantially and likley deliberately misled the British public."

July 2009

Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World to culture and media committee

"I have never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place … I took full responsibility at the time for what happened but without my knowledge and resigned"

July 2009

Assistant Commissioner John Yates after reviewing original investigation into hacking

"Their potential targets may have run into hundreds of people, but our inquiries showed that they only used the tactic against a far smaller number of individuals."

July 2009

Former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman reacting to the original Guardian story

"The list of those targeted ran to several hundred names. Of these, there was a small number - perhaps a handful - where there was evidence that the phones had actually been tampered with."

August 2009

News of the World editor Colin Myler to the Press Complaints Commission

"Our internal enquiries have found no evidence of involvement by News of the World staff other than Clive Goodman in phone message interception beyond the e-mail transcript which emerged in April 2008 during the Gordon Taylor litigation and which has since been revealed in the original Guardian report.

Myler also told the PCC that allegations by the Guardian that police 'found evidence of News Group's staff using private investigators who hacked into thousands of mobile phones', and that the police findings 'put the figure at two or three thousand mobiles' were "not just unsubstantiated and irresponsible, they were wholly false".

September 2009

Assistant Commissioner John Yates to culture and media committee

"As I said previously, there is essentially nothing new in the story other than to place in the public domain additional material which had already been considered by both the police investigation into Goodman and Mulcaire and by the CPS and the prosecution team. There was certainly no new evidence and, in spite of a huge amount of publicity and our request of the Guardian and others to submit to us any additional evidence, nothing has been forthcoming since."

September 2010

News of the World statement following fresh allegations of widespread hacking under Coulson's editorship of the News of the World

"We reject absolutely any suggestion there was a widespread culture of wrongdoing at the News of the World"

November 2009

PCC report on the Guardian's hacking allegations

"The PCC has seen no new evidence to suggest that the practice of phone message tapping was undertaken by others beyond Goodman and Mulcaire, or evidence that News of the World executives knew about Goodman and Mulcaire's activities. It follows that there is nothing to suggest that the PCC was materially misled during its 2007 inquiry....

Indeed, having reviewed the matter, the Commission could not help but conclude that the Guardian's stories did not quite live up to the dramatic billing."

Oct 2010

Rupert Murdoch addressing News Corporation's annual general meeting

"We have very, very strict rules. There was one incident more than five years ago … the person who bought the bugged conversation was immediately fired. If anything was to come to light, and we have challenged those people who have made allegations to provide evidence … we would take immediate action"

December 2010

Andy Coulson testifying at at the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial

"I don't accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World. All I can tell you is that, as far as my reporters are concerned, the instructions were very clear: they were to work within the law and within the PCC code. It's in their handbooks."

April 2011

News International apologises to eight hacking victims and admits liability in their cases

"Following an extensive internal investigation and disclosures through civil legal cases, News International has decided to approach some civil litigants with an unreserved apology and an admission of liability in cases meeting specific criteria."