News of the World phone hacking: John Whittingdale seeks public inquiry
Press Complaints Commission not up to the job, says chairman of Commons culture, media and sport select committee
John Whittingdale said the News of the World phone-hacking affair raised 'serious questions for the security of government'. Photograph: Philippe Hays/Rex Features
The chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, John Whittingdale, has called for a public inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Media Show, Whittingdale said there should be "some kind of commission or inquiry" into why a series of investigations by Scotland Yard failed to link any News International employees to phone hacking other than the News of the World's former royal editor, Clive Goodman.
Rupert Murdoch's news group last week issued a public apology to eight victims of phone hacking, including the actor Sienna Miller and former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, and admitted for the first time that the practice was rife at the paper.
News International has also written to nine other alleged victims of News of the World phone hacking saying it was prepared to pay compensation if they obtained evidence from Scotland Yard to support their claims.
"There are some very big questions. What I find [most] worrying is the apparent unwillingness of the police, who had the evidence and chose to do nothing with it. That's something that needs to be looked into," Whittingdale said on Wednesday.
"It also raises some quite serious questions for the security of government. It seems pretty extraordinary that newspapers are able to listen in to the private conversations of Downing Street, royal staff and others.
"I'm wanting to know through the Home Office why those responsible for safeguarding security weren't able to do anything about it."
Whittingdale said the culture select committee was also "concerned" about previous assurances given to it by News International executives and Scotland Yard that an investigation had been carried out and that there was no new information.
"It wasn't just News International who told us that, it was also the police," he added. "In light of what's now apparent that's a most extraordinary statement."
The Conservative MP said there was "no reason" why a fresh inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World could not be done by the newspaper industry itself, but added that the sector's self-regulatory body, the Press Complaints Commission, was not up to the job.
"I think the newspaper industry should be very worried," Whittingdale added. "The PCC has not got a particularly strong reputation as a result of this. I don't think they've covered themselves in glory."
Any fresh inquiry should be carried out by "someone who is independent, experienced and powerful who is not in thrall to the press", he added.
"It's a case for the industry recognising that if it is to retain its credibility it needs a stronger, more independent PCC which has real sanctions. If the [newspaper industry] shrug their shoulders, I think cries for [a tougher system of regulation] will grow.
"Newspapers would be very foolish to believe [the phone-hacking scandal] doesn't have implications for the whole way the press operates in this country."
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