Two far-reaching public inquires are to be launched into the phone hacking scandal, David Cameron announced today.
One, possibly led by a judge, will investigate the extent of Fleet Street malpractice as well as examining individual hacking cases. It is also likely to look at the future regulation of the Press. The second will examine why the original Metropolitan Police inquiry failed to get to the bottom of hacking claims.
Mr Cameron’s announcement came as he clashed with Ed Miliband in the Commons over how best to respond to the mushrooming hacking claims, which in the past 48 hours have included Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl and the victims of the Soham murders and 7/7 bombings.
The Prime Minister resisted pressure from Mr Miliband for an inquiry to be set up immediately. Mr Cameron said most of the work would have to wait until the Met had completed their current investigations into the News of the World, owned by News International which also publishes The Times.
However, some work could begin on issues of media ethics and the regulation of Fleet Street, according to Downing Street officials.
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Mr Cameron also rebuffed calls from the Labour leader for the takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation, the parent company of News International, to be referred to the Competition Commission.
The Prime Minister said the recent hacking revelations were “absolutely disgusting” and that everyone in the country will be revolted” by what they had learned.
He insisted it was vital that the current police investigation — the biggest in the country and without any involvement of officers who took part in the initial investigation — should be allowed to run its course without being jeopardised by a public inquiry at the same time.
He said he did not want to rush into decisions and that he would talk to Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, Mr Miliband and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, before setting the terms of reference for any inquiry.
Mr Miliband said it was essential that any inquiry was led by a judge who had power to compel witnesses to attend and take evidence under oath. It should look at unlawful and unethical newspaper practices, the current self-regulation of the Press, overseen by the Press Complaints Commission, and the relationship between newspapers and the police.
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Mr Miliband’s more aggressive stance on the BSkyB deal represented a shift from yesterday, when he said the issue of media plurality was distinct from hacking claims.
Today he said that the “public will react with disbelief” at Mr Cameron’s refusal to slow the pace of the BSkyB deal, which is due for a final decision this Friday. The Prime Minister’s answer was “out of touch”, he said, at a time when it was not clear where the criminal investigation would take in senior executives at News International.
Mr Cameron said the Government had no choice but to follow legal guidelines because Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, was playing a quasi judicial role.
He suggested Mr Miliband was acting for political purposes and said that interfering with the process would leave the Government vulnerable to judicial review. “You would look pretty for a day but useless for a week,” he told Labour MPs.
Mr Miliband also toughened his position of Rebekah Brooks, the News International chief executive and editor of the News of the World at the time a private investigator acting for the paper allegedly hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl, days after she went missing and deleted voicemails from her anxious parents and friends.
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Yesterday Mr Miliband said she should consider her position. Today he said: “She should take responsibility and stand down.”