Labour minister and MI5 'briefed about phone hacking scandal' (under Blair)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

Source: Guardian UK

The Tony Blair government was secretly briefed about the phone hacking scandal, according to the head of the aborted 2006 police investigation into the News of the World.

Peter Clarke, the Metropolitan police's former deputy assistant commissioner, made the unexpected claim to the Leveson inquiry this week. The hearing heard details of how the targeting of Labour cabinet ministers was subsequently kept quiet.

Clarke told Lord Justice Leveson that a confidential report on the phone hacking discoveries was sent by the Met to the then home secretary, John Reid, who personally discussed it with him. Clarke indicated that Reid was told about the targeting of deputy prime minister John Prescott. A briefing was also sent to the cabinet office at No 10, and to MI5.

After hearing Clarke's disclosure on Thursday, Leveson immediately demanded that the Reid report be handed over to his inquiry.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/02/tony-blair-phone-hacking-police?newsfeed=true

[T_i_B]

1. Thank you for reminding me.......

.....of the damage that Tony Blair and "new" labour did to British politics.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. I have to admit that at first he had me going with

his bullshit.

[LeftishBrit]

3. Eeuggh; not surprised, though

Blair was the godfather of one of Murdoch's kids, after all.

And Reid was one of the worst, most right-wing, illiberal Home Secretaries we've had. He was probably to the right of the current Tory Home Secretary Ken Clarke. And to top it all off, he was bloody incompetent!

[T_i_B]

4. The current home secretary is Theresa May

Ken Clarke is the Lord Chancellor. And as to Theresa May, I think the fact that she's daft enough to even contemplate the idea of privatizing police work has to put her down as a ridiculous right wing ideologue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17246432

[LeftishBrit]

6. You're right; I was thinking of Clarke being Justice Secretary, and maybe subconsciously trying to

blot Theresa May from my memory!

I think her stupid remarks about the illegal immigrant allegedly not being deported because of his cat showed her to be a ridiculous right-wing ideologue and panderer to the tabloids, even before her latest idiotic suggestion.

[Sea-Dog]

5. ed loved a party with the murdochs too

can't remember the artcle heading