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Prescott demands answers over phone tap claims
Former Deputy Prime Minister Hull East MP John Prescott last night said he wanted answers from police over claims they knew his phone was tapped by private investigators working for journalists but was not told about it.
The website of The Guardian newspaper claimed yesterday that News Group Newspapers, which publishes titles including the News of the World, had paid out more than 1m to settle cases that threatened to reveal evidence of its journalists' alleged involvement in telephone hacking.
It quoted sources saying police officers found evidence of News Group staff using private investigators who had hacked into "thousands" of mobile phones.
MPs from all three parties and Cabinet ministers including Mr Prescott and former Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell were among the targets, claimed the newspaper.
Mr Prescott, asked on Channel 4 News if he had been told by police that his phone was tapped, said: "Absolutely not. I find it staggering that there could be a list known to the police. I'm named as one of them, for such a criminal act not to be reported to me, and for action not to be taken against the people who have done it, reflects very badly on the police. I want to know their answer."
The Guardian said Andy Coulson, Tory leader David Cameron's present director of communications, was deputy editor and then editor of the News of the World when journalists were using the private investigators. It added that one of the settlements, totalling 700,000 in legal costs and damages, involved legal action brought by chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association Gordon Taylor.
News International, the parent company of News Group Newspapers, said: "It is inappropriate to comment at this time."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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