Police in dock over hacking

After 10 days of growing turmoil at News International, and David Cameron’s reputation becoming compromised by his decision to appoint disgraced editor Andy Coulson as his communications director, it is a legitimate question after the police tried, and failed, to defend their role yesterday.

There was some contrition – the alleged serial abuse of Gordon Brown’s privacy and that of his young family demanded nothing less – but it is clear, from the confrontational nature of questioning by the Home Affairs Select Committee, that the police and political elite have divergent views on the Metropolitan Police’s competence.

This difficulty was encapsulated by Lord Blair, the former Met Commissioner at the time hacking claims first came to light. While he was ultimately accountable, he said he could not accept responsibility for every decision taken on his watch, and particularly when terrorist-related inquiries were his priority.

Yet, while his defence had an air of authenticity, the same could not be said of the evidence of the current Assistant Commissioner, John Yates – the officer who decided that there was insufficient evidence to reopen the hacking inquiry.

It is scarcely creditable that he took a matter of hours to review 11,000 pages of material. Nor was it diligent as he conceded that there was an element of doing the “minimum necessary”.

It did not require Keith Vaz, the committee chairman, to describe, in conclusion, the evidence of Mr Yates as “unconvincing” – his demeanour spoke volumes.

That said, the opening remarks of Mr Yates should not be overlooked. While apologising to the hacking victims, and for misleading MPs, he said that the News of the World had only recently supplied evidence that is overwhelming Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

This is key. If News International’s senior executives had not obfuscated for so long, or presided over a culture where the hacking of so many phones could take place, the credibility of so many people, Rupert Murdoch and John Yates included, would not now be on the line.