16-08-2011, 09:13 PM
Summary of the extraordinary revelations that emerged from the select committee today.
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up. The most explosive revelation is that the former royal editor of the tabloid Clive Goodman, who was jailed in relation to phone-hacking in 2007, had written a letter four years ago to the head of human resources at News International claiming that the practice was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper. Goodman also made a second, equally serious, claim in the letter - that the then editor Andy Coulson had offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to "implicate" the paper in hacking when he appeared in court.
Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued the phone-hacking scandal most vigorously, described the revelations as "devastating" for News International. For four years maintained phone-hacking was the work of 'one rogue reporter' although it changed its position last December. Watson says he now takes what News International tells him with "a pinch of salt".
In another embarrassing revelation, two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, was redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.
On the question of whether James Murdoch had "misled" the select committee when he appeared last month with his father, Rupert, Watson says the committee had drawn no conclusions. However, for this reason it is "likely" to recall James Murdoch, but not Rupert, for further clarification on a number of points. The News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and the paper's former head of of legal affairs Tom Crone, in their fresh letters to the committee re-iterated their allegations that Murdoch had misled MPs during last month's grilling.
James Murdoch's submission contains several fascinating revelations. It shows that Goodman received a far bigger pay out than the £60,000 the company had previously admitted. In total he got just under £250,000, made up of a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Watson says: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence". Murdoch's executives have always denied this.
Murdoch's letter also shows that another £250,000-odd has been spent on legal fees for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal. Last month, Murdoch announced, he would be ending the arrangement to pay Mulcaire's legal costs.
The select committee is to sit again on September 6. It is calling the former head of legal affairs at News International, Jon Chapman and Daniel Cloke the former head of human resources, to give evidence for the first time. It will also recall Myler and Crone.
5.38pm: Tommy Sheridan's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, has just released this statement about Andy Coulson, David Cameron's former head of communications who was editor of the News of the World at the time of the alleged phone-hacking.
Today the Culture,Media & Sport Select Committee disclosed that it was alleged that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking. If true this is a serious contradiction of the evidence given by Andrew Coulson during the Perjury Trial of Tommy Sheridan. Strathclyde Police's majory [sic] inquiry into perjury and phonehacking should now consider interviewing Clive Goodman as well as Andy Coulson.
We were told repeatedly during Mr Sheridan's trial by the police and the Crown, that perjury strikes at the heart of the administration of justice and nobody was above the law- We now expect to see a similar robust response to News of the World and for arrests to take place in Scotland, and if it is shown that people lied in the Glasgow High Court they should go to prison."
5.16pm: Select committee member Louise Mensch is on holiday but has been following events keenly. She is intrigued by the Harbottle & Lewis correspondence with News International over its 'review' of internal News of the World emails.
@LouiseMensch
Focus on Goodman letter but exchange between H&L and NI on wording of H&L letter is much more interesting
5.05pm: Want to see how heavily News International redacted the Clive Goodman letter compared to their then law firm, Harbottle & Lewis, which also submitted a version of the document to the committee?
Propublica has overlaid the two in this interesting interactive graphic.
4.59pm: Other nuggets from James Murdoch's letter (second PDF on select committee website) that my colleague Josh Halliday has spotted:
No records to show who deputised for Rebekah Brooks or who was the on-duty lawyer while she was on holiday when the controversial Milly Dowler story was published (14 April 2002) that referred to her voicemail messages. (P6 in Murdoch's letter)
'Any' payment made in cash had to be approved by the editor or deputy editor (P4 in Murdoch's letter)
Senior reporters were able to approve non-cash payments of up to £2,000 (P4 in Murdoch's letter)
54 News International employees have been disciplined or dismissed since 2000, including three so far this year. (P5 in Murdoch's letter)
4.42pm: There are few winners in this phone-hacking scandal, but lawyers are among them.
James Murdoch reveals in his letter to the select committee that News International has paid an eye-popping £246,000 to lawyers acting for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.
4.27pm: Ed Miliband is using the new phone-hacking evidence to launch an attack on David Cameron.
The Labour leader said the evidence submitted to the committee indicated Mr Cameron's judgment in employing Mr Coulson was "catastrophic".
This evidence raises serious questions about the extent of the cover-up at News International and the judgment of David Cameron. It says phone hacking was widely discussed at the News of the World.
The problem for Mr Cameron is that he was already warned by the article in the New York Times last year about the same behaviour that today's evidence claims went on at the News of the World when Andy Coulson was the editor. Yet he continued to employ Andy Coulson as his director of communications.
The Prime Minister took no action and looked the other way amid these allegations that he had brought someone aware of criminal activity into 10 Downing Street.
Every new bit of evidence shows how catastrophic his judgment was.
4.07pm: Daniel Cloke, News International's former head of human resources is being called to give evidence to the select committee on September 6, the Press Association is reporting. It is the first time Cloke, who now works at Vodafone, has been dragged into the row.
Also being called in for the first time is Jon Chapman, the former head of legal affairs at News International. He was dumped on by the Murdochs in the last select committee hearing.
And as expected the committee is also calling Tom Crone, the paper's former head of legal affairs and former editor Colin Myler to give further evidence on September 6.
The MPs are also writing to former editor Andy Coulson and his predecessor as editor Rebekah Brooks, the tabloid's former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, and former News International chief executive Les Hinton to ask whether they wish to clarify earlier evidence given to the committee.
3.51pm: Just back to the Harbottle and Lewis letters.
The role of this respected City law firm has been the subject of intrigue ever since Rupert Murdoch said they had made "a major mistake" when they apparently reviewed 300 internal News of the World emails and found nothing to suggest other journalists or the newsdesk was aware of phone-hacking.
Harbottle and Lewis has for the first time rejected these claims - it was previously bound by confidentiality clauses from discussing what News International had asked it to do.
The firm says the review of emails had been a limited "desktop exercise" which specifically related to Mr Goodman's claim for wrongful dismissal.
There was absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes," it said.
If the firm had initially been given a retainer as broad as instructions 'to find out what the hell was going on' or (to put it more formally) to undertake an investigation which News International could use for broader purposes, such as laying it before Parliament as independent support for the 'one rogue reporter' theory, the firm would have refused the instructions.
It is interesting now to look back at the statements made by senior News International executives since Goodman sent his letter in 2007 claiming the practice was widely discussed.
Here's a timeline of who said what and when.
2.51pm: The Guardian's James Robinson says the letter from ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman is one of the most critical pieces of evidence to be submitted to the select committee.
Robinson has been analysing the letter sent by Goodman to News International in 2007 and provides the back story here. Click on the yellow tabs for the explainers.
If proven to be accurate, it suggests a large-scale cover-up at News International which had maintained for nearly four years that phone-hacking was the work of "one rogue reporter" - Goodman.
The letter also challenges News International's present defence which is that it only discovered there may have been more people involved in phone hacking after evidence emerged during a civil action launched by Sienna Miller against the News of the World.
2.20pm: My colleague James Robinson has just received News International's statement on the latest allegations threatening to engulf the newspaper publisher.
News Corporation's board has set up a Management and Standards Committee, chaired by independent chairman Lord Grabiner, which is co-operating fully with the Metropolitan police and is facilitating their investigation into illegal voicemail interception at the News of the World and related issues.
We recognise the seriousness of materials disclosed to the police and parliament and are committed to working in a constructive and open way with all the relevant authorities.
2.08pm: On News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed for phone-hacking offences, Watson has this:
Let me be clear, if what Goodman says is accurate, then it's very, very serious for Andy Coulson and Tom Crone the lawyer.
If it's not accurate, the central question is why did Les Hinton, the chief executive of News International at the time, on receiving this letter not mention it to a Parliamentary inquiry that he gave evidence to only days afterwards and why did he not immediately call in the police? After all there had been an allegation of widespread criminality in the organisation in 2007 and he didn't want to clear it up. That contradicts what Rupert Murdoch told us which us he takes a zero tolerance policy to wrongdoing in News Corp.
2.05pm: Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued phone-hacking most vigorously says he now takes what News International says "with a pinch of salt".
He's just told ITV News
I take what the company say with a pinch of salt now. They've hired a lot of PR people to handle their media.
And what is interesting is, the Clive Goodman letter which I think is devastating and suggests that not just Andy Coulson, but everyone on the editorial team of News of the World was aware of phone hacking, in the version the company gave the committee they blacked out those lines, so I don't think they are being as honest as they say.
Clive Goodman's letter to Daniel Cloke
1.59pm:
A copy of the "devastating" letter from royal correspondent Clive Goodman which says phone hacking was "widely discussed" at News of the World editorial meetings is on the culture select committee website. Scroll down to page 19 on the PDF.
1.48pm: Those with a sensitive disposition cover your eyes now.
@Jemima_Khan
A-fuckin-gog
Jemima Khan and Hugh Grant recently won a court order to force police to hand over documents in relation to the alleged hacking of their voicemail messages by an investigator hired by the News of the World and other newspapers.
1.33pm: The culture select committee has now published all the fresh documents. Here's the link.
1.29pm: Equally as embarrassing for News International and for Rupert Murdoch is new evidence submitted by London law firm Harbottle and Lewis.
Last month it was accused of making "a major mistake" by Rupert Murdoch last month after it was hired in 2007 by News International to review 300 internal News of the World emailsand reported back there was no evidence that illegal actions at the News of the World went further than those of Clive Goodman.
The law firm has now hit back and says Murdoch's allegations in the Wall Street Journal were themselves "inaccurate and misleading".
Here's Davies again:
Harbottle and Lewis say they find it "hard to credit" James Murdoch's repeated claim that News International "rested on" their letter as part of their grounds for believing that Clive Goodman was a "rogue reporter". They say News International's view of their role is "self-serving" and that Rupert Murdoch's claim that they were hired "to find out what the hell was going on" was "inaccurate and misleading", although they add that he may have been confused or misinformed about their role.
The Harbottle & Lewis letter is the first page in the PDF of evidence just published by the select committee.
1.17pm: We now have a copy of the Clive Goodman letter which we will repost soon
1.16pm: Media commentator Steve Hewlett says the new evidence, if it is to be believed, could be very damaging for James Murdoch, heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire.
He cautions that Goodman's letter is written by a man seeking damages in an unfair dismissal claim.
If it ends up looking as if James Murdoch has done anything other than tell the whole truth, and in all fairness to him I have no reason to believe he hasn't told the whole truth. ....anything that emerges that throws serious doubt on what James Murdoch says it clearly going to be damaging to him.
1.13pm: Tom Watson also claims that Goodman was paid "hush money" after new evidence showed he was paid far more than the company previously stated.
Davies reports:
The company also faces a new claim that it misled parliament. In earlier evidence to the select committee, in answer to questions about whether it had bought Goodman's silence, it had said he was paid off with a period of notice plus compensation of no more than £60,000. The new paperwork, however, reveals that Goodman was paid a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Tom Watson said: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence." Murdoch's executives have always denied this.
12.47pm: The Goodman evidence is certainly a bombshell.
In a letter to News International's head of human resources Daniel Cloke (now at Vodafone), Goodman says Crone and Coulson promised he could have his job back when he got out of jail if he did not "implicate" the paper in wider phone-hacking allegations.
Worse, two versions of the Goodman letter were given to the committee - one, supplied by News International, redacted to remove all references to hacking being discussed in editorial meetings.
Davies reports:
In a particularly embarrassing allegation, he adds: "Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me." In the event, he lost his appeal. But the claim that the paper induced him to mislead the court is one that may cause further problems for News International.
Two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, has been redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.
12.41pm: The Guardian's Nick Davies now has the full story which can be read here
He reveals:
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.
In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.
The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".
12.28pm: Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, has just tweeted that the law firm asked initially to investigate a batch of News of the World emails has hit back at claims that it had got it wrong.
Harbottle "rejects evidence of Mr James Murdoch that News Int 'rested on' the (Harbottle) letter" for belief Goodman was lone rogue reporter.
12.21pm: A summary so far:
The select committee says the fresh evidence they have received in relation to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is "devastating" and that James Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled for a second grilling.
The former editor of the Sunday tabloid, Colin Myler, and the paper's head of the legal affairs have provided more evidence to support their allegations that Murdoch 'misled' the committee about his knowledge of phone-hacking at the News of the World.
Watson has hinted at explosive new evidence from former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 in relation to phone-hacking offences.
12.18pm: Whittingdale says he is not looking to replicate the Leveson inquiry.
12.17pm: Whittingdale says it is unlikely Rupert Murdoch will be recalled. Watson says this is because "the devil is in the detail". Shame. Would have been entertaining.
12.17pm: Asked whether James Murdoch 'misled' the committee, Watson says: "We've not drawn a conclusion from that".
12.15pm: Watson reiterates that the new evidence is "devastating". He refers to fresh evidence in relation to former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman.
12.14pm: Whittingdale says he asked for written submissions and those submissions have "raised questions" which need to be answered in fresh oral hearings.
12.13pm: Whittingdale says that Murdoch claims he was not aware of the "for Neville" email but that is not what Myler and Crone says.
Watson says that means there is "contradictory evidence" between Murdoch and Myler and Crone and Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled.
He adds that documents published by the committee at 1pm will be "devastating".
12.12pm: Tom Watson and chairman John Whittingdale are answering questions. Whittingdale says Murdoch has submitted details on payments to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.
12.09pm: The select committee meeting is due to finish in a few minutes.
12.02pm: Tom Watson has just tweeted this:
Documents submitted to DCMS select committee will be published at 12.59pm. On dcms web site. Lobby- I'll be in grimond room at 1pm.
11.57am: The parliamentary select committee investigating phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World is to issue a statement at 1pm after receiving fresh evidence from executives caught up in the scandal including James Murdoch.
The select committee met at 11.30am to discuss new submissions from Murdoch and four other key executives including former head of legal affairs at the tabloid Tom Crone and the former editor Colin Myler who had sensationally accused Murdoch of giving "mistaken" evidence to the committee last month.
Labour MP Tom Watson has already promised that the evidence is "dynamite".
Former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks and News International's former head of legal affairs Jon Chapman have also submitted evidence.
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up. The most explosive revelation is that the former royal editor of the tabloid Clive Goodman, who was jailed in relation to phone-hacking in 2007, had written a letter four years ago to the head of human resources at News International claiming that the practice was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper. Goodman also made a second, equally serious, claim in the letter - that the then editor Andy Coulson had offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to "implicate" the paper in hacking when he appeared in court.
Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued the phone-hacking scandal most vigorously, described the revelations as "devastating" for News International. For four years maintained phone-hacking was the work of 'one rogue reporter' although it changed its position last December. Watson says he now takes what News International tells him with "a pinch of salt".
In another embarrassing revelation, two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, was redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.
On the question of whether James Murdoch had "misled" the select committee when he appeared last month with his father, Rupert, Watson says the committee had drawn no conclusions. However, for this reason it is "likely" to recall James Murdoch, but not Rupert, for further clarification on a number of points. The News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and the paper's former head of of legal affairs Tom Crone, in their fresh letters to the committee re-iterated their allegations that Murdoch had misled MPs during last month's grilling.
James Murdoch's submission contains several fascinating revelations. It shows that Goodman received a far bigger pay out than the £60,000 the company had previously admitted. In total he got just under £250,000, made up of a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Watson says: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence". Murdoch's executives have always denied this.
Murdoch's letter also shows that another £250,000-odd has been spent on legal fees for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal. Last month, Murdoch announced, he would be ending the arrangement to pay Mulcaire's legal costs.
The select committee is to sit again on September 6. It is calling the former head of legal affairs at News International, Jon Chapman and Daniel Cloke the former head of human resources, to give evidence for the first time. It will also recall Myler and Crone.
5.38pm: Tommy Sheridan's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, has just released this statement about Andy Coulson, David Cameron's former head of communications who was editor of the News of the World at the time of the alleged phone-hacking.
Today the Culture,Media & Sport Select Committee disclosed that it was alleged that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking. If true this is a serious contradiction of the evidence given by Andrew Coulson during the Perjury Trial of Tommy Sheridan. Strathclyde Police's majory [sic] inquiry into perjury and phonehacking should now consider interviewing Clive Goodman as well as Andy Coulson.
We were told repeatedly during Mr Sheridan's trial by the police and the Crown, that perjury strikes at the heart of the administration of justice and nobody was above the law- We now expect to see a similar robust response to News of the World and for arrests to take place in Scotland, and if it is shown that people lied in the Glasgow High Court they should go to prison."
5.16pm: Select committee member Louise Mensch is on holiday but has been following events keenly. She is intrigued by the Harbottle & Lewis correspondence with News International over its 'review' of internal News of the World emails.
@LouiseMensch
Focus on Goodman letter but exchange between H&L and NI on wording of H&L letter is much more interesting
5.05pm: Want to see how heavily News International redacted the Clive Goodman letter compared to their then law firm, Harbottle & Lewis, which also submitted a version of the document to the committee?
Propublica has overlaid the two in this interesting interactive graphic.
4.59pm: Other nuggets from James Murdoch's letter (second PDF on select committee website) that my colleague Josh Halliday has spotted:
No records to show who deputised for Rebekah Brooks or who was the on-duty lawyer while she was on holiday when the controversial Milly Dowler story was published (14 April 2002) that referred to her voicemail messages. (P6 in Murdoch's letter)
'Any' payment made in cash had to be approved by the editor or deputy editor (P4 in Murdoch's letter)
Senior reporters were able to approve non-cash payments of up to £2,000 (P4 in Murdoch's letter)
54 News International employees have been disciplined or dismissed since 2000, including three so far this year. (P5 in Murdoch's letter)
4.42pm: There are few winners in this phone-hacking scandal, but lawyers are among them.
James Murdoch reveals in his letter to the select committee that News International has paid an eye-popping £246,000 to lawyers acting for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.
4.27pm: Ed Miliband is using the new phone-hacking evidence to launch an attack on David Cameron.
The Labour leader said the evidence submitted to the committee indicated Mr Cameron's judgment in employing Mr Coulson was "catastrophic".
This evidence raises serious questions about the extent of the cover-up at News International and the judgment of David Cameron. It says phone hacking was widely discussed at the News of the World.
The problem for Mr Cameron is that he was already warned by the article in the New York Times last year about the same behaviour that today's evidence claims went on at the News of the World when Andy Coulson was the editor. Yet he continued to employ Andy Coulson as his director of communications.
The Prime Minister took no action and looked the other way amid these allegations that he had brought someone aware of criminal activity into 10 Downing Street.
Every new bit of evidence shows how catastrophic his judgment was.
4.07pm: Daniel Cloke, News International's former head of human resources is being called to give evidence to the select committee on September 6, the Press Association is reporting. It is the first time Cloke, who now works at Vodafone, has been dragged into the row.
Also being called in for the first time is Jon Chapman, the former head of legal affairs at News International. He was dumped on by the Murdochs in the last select committee hearing.
And as expected the committee is also calling Tom Crone, the paper's former head of legal affairs and former editor Colin Myler to give further evidence on September 6.
The MPs are also writing to former editor Andy Coulson and his predecessor as editor Rebekah Brooks, the tabloid's former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, and former News International chief executive Les Hinton to ask whether they wish to clarify earlier evidence given to the committee.
3.51pm: Just back to the Harbottle and Lewis letters.
The role of this respected City law firm has been the subject of intrigue ever since Rupert Murdoch said they had made "a major mistake" when they apparently reviewed 300 internal News of the World emails and found nothing to suggest other journalists or the newsdesk was aware of phone-hacking.
Harbottle and Lewis has for the first time rejected these claims - it was previously bound by confidentiality clauses from discussing what News International had asked it to do.
The firm says the review of emails had been a limited "desktop exercise" which specifically related to Mr Goodman's claim for wrongful dismissal.
There was absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes," it said.
If the firm had initially been given a retainer as broad as instructions 'to find out what the hell was going on' or (to put it more formally) to undertake an investigation which News International could use for broader purposes, such as laying it before Parliament as independent support for the 'one rogue reporter' theory, the firm would have refused the instructions.
It is interesting now to look back at the statements made by senior News International executives since Goodman sent his letter in 2007 claiming the practice was widely discussed.
Here's a timeline of who said what and when.
2.51pm: The Guardian's James Robinson says the letter from ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman is one of the most critical pieces of evidence to be submitted to the select committee.
Robinson has been analysing the letter sent by Goodman to News International in 2007 and provides the back story here. Click on the yellow tabs for the explainers.
If proven to be accurate, it suggests a large-scale cover-up at News International which had maintained for nearly four years that phone-hacking was the work of "one rogue reporter" - Goodman.
The letter also challenges News International's present defence which is that it only discovered there may have been more people involved in phone hacking after evidence emerged during a civil action launched by Sienna Miller against the News of the World.
2.20pm: My colleague James Robinson has just received News International's statement on the latest allegations threatening to engulf the newspaper publisher.
News Corporation's board has set up a Management and Standards Committee, chaired by independent chairman Lord Grabiner, which is co-operating fully with the Metropolitan police and is facilitating their investigation into illegal voicemail interception at the News of the World and related issues.
We recognise the seriousness of materials disclosed to the police and parliament and are committed to working in a constructive and open way with all the relevant authorities.
2.08pm: On News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed for phone-hacking offences, Watson has this:
Let me be clear, if what Goodman says is accurate, then it's very, very serious for Andy Coulson and Tom Crone the lawyer.
If it's not accurate, the central question is why did Les Hinton, the chief executive of News International at the time, on receiving this letter not mention it to a Parliamentary inquiry that he gave evidence to only days afterwards and why did he not immediately call in the police? After all there had been an allegation of widespread criminality in the organisation in 2007 and he didn't want to clear it up. That contradicts what Rupert Murdoch told us which us he takes a zero tolerance policy to wrongdoing in News Corp.
2.05pm: Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued phone-hacking most vigorously says he now takes what News International says "with a pinch of salt".
He's just told ITV News
I take what the company say with a pinch of salt now. They've hired a lot of PR people to handle their media.
And what is interesting is, the Clive Goodman letter which I think is devastating and suggests that not just Andy Coulson, but everyone on the editorial team of News of the World was aware of phone hacking, in the version the company gave the committee they blacked out those lines, so I don't think they are being as honest as they say.
Clive Goodman's letter to Daniel Cloke
1.59pm:
A copy of the "devastating" letter from royal correspondent Clive Goodman which says phone hacking was "widely discussed" at News of the World editorial meetings is on the culture select committee website. Scroll down to page 19 on the PDF.
1.48pm: Those with a sensitive disposition cover your eyes now.
@Jemima_Khan
A-fuckin-gog
Jemima Khan and Hugh Grant recently won a court order to force police to hand over documents in relation to the alleged hacking of their voicemail messages by an investigator hired by the News of the World and other newspapers.
1.33pm: The culture select committee has now published all the fresh documents. Here's the link.
1.29pm: Equally as embarrassing for News International and for Rupert Murdoch is new evidence submitted by London law firm Harbottle and Lewis.
Last month it was accused of making "a major mistake" by Rupert Murdoch last month after it was hired in 2007 by News International to review 300 internal News of the World emailsand reported back there was no evidence that illegal actions at the News of the World went further than those of Clive Goodman.
The law firm has now hit back and says Murdoch's allegations in the Wall Street Journal were themselves "inaccurate and misleading".
Here's Davies again:
Harbottle and Lewis say they find it "hard to credit" James Murdoch's repeated claim that News International "rested on" their letter as part of their grounds for believing that Clive Goodman was a "rogue reporter". They say News International's view of their role is "self-serving" and that Rupert Murdoch's claim that they were hired "to find out what the hell was going on" was "inaccurate and misleading", although they add that he may have been confused or misinformed about their role.
The Harbottle & Lewis letter is the first page in the PDF of evidence just published by the select committee.
1.17pm: We now have a copy of the Clive Goodman letter which we will repost soon
1.16pm: Media commentator Steve Hewlett says the new evidence, if it is to be believed, could be very damaging for James Murdoch, heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire.
He cautions that Goodman's letter is written by a man seeking damages in an unfair dismissal claim.
If it ends up looking as if James Murdoch has done anything other than tell the whole truth, and in all fairness to him I have no reason to believe he hasn't told the whole truth. ....anything that emerges that throws serious doubt on what James Murdoch says it clearly going to be damaging to him.
1.13pm: Tom Watson also claims that Goodman was paid "hush money" after new evidence showed he was paid far more than the company previously stated.
Davies reports:
The company also faces a new claim that it misled parliament. In earlier evidence to the select committee, in answer to questions about whether it had bought Goodman's silence, it had said he was paid off with a period of notice plus compensation of no more than £60,000. The new paperwork, however, reveals that Goodman was paid a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Tom Watson said: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence." Murdoch's executives have always denied this.
12.47pm: The Goodman evidence is certainly a bombshell.
In a letter to News International's head of human resources Daniel Cloke (now at Vodafone), Goodman says Crone and Coulson promised he could have his job back when he got out of jail if he did not "implicate" the paper in wider phone-hacking allegations.
Worse, two versions of the Goodman letter were given to the committee - one, supplied by News International, redacted to remove all references to hacking being discussed in editorial meetings.
Davies reports:
In a particularly embarrassing allegation, he adds: "Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me." In the event, he lost his appeal. But the claim that the paper induced him to mislead the court is one that may cause further problems for News International.
Two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, has been redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.
12.41pm: The Guardian's Nick Davies now has the full story which can be read here
He reveals:
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.
In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.
The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".
12.28pm: Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, has just tweeted that the law firm asked initially to investigate a batch of News of the World emails has hit back at claims that it had got it wrong.
Harbottle "rejects evidence of Mr James Murdoch that News Int 'rested on' the (Harbottle) letter" for belief Goodman was lone rogue reporter.
12.21pm: A summary so far:
The select committee says the fresh evidence they have received in relation to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is "devastating" and that James Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled for a second grilling.
The former editor of the Sunday tabloid, Colin Myler, and the paper's head of the legal affairs have provided more evidence to support their allegations that Murdoch 'misled' the committee about his knowledge of phone-hacking at the News of the World.
Watson has hinted at explosive new evidence from former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 in relation to phone-hacking offences.
12.18pm: Whittingdale says he is not looking to replicate the Leveson inquiry.
12.17pm: Whittingdale says it is unlikely Rupert Murdoch will be recalled. Watson says this is because "the devil is in the detail". Shame. Would have been entertaining.
12.17pm: Asked whether James Murdoch 'misled' the committee, Watson says: "We've not drawn a conclusion from that".
12.15pm: Watson reiterates that the new evidence is "devastating". He refers to fresh evidence in relation to former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman.
12.14pm: Whittingdale says he asked for written submissions and those submissions have "raised questions" which need to be answered in fresh oral hearings.
12.13pm: Whittingdale says that Murdoch claims he was not aware of the "for Neville" email but that is not what Myler and Crone says.
Watson says that means there is "contradictory evidence" between Murdoch and Myler and Crone and Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled.
He adds that documents published by the committee at 1pm will be "devastating".
12.12pm: Tom Watson and chairman John Whittingdale are answering questions. Whittingdale says Murdoch has submitted details on payments to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.
12.09pm: The select committee meeting is due to finish in a few minutes.
12.02pm: Tom Watson has just tweeted this:
Documents submitted to DCMS select committee will be published at 12.59pm. On dcms web site. Lobby- I'll be in grimond room at 1pm.
11.57am: The parliamentary select committee investigating phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World is to issue a statement at 1pm after receiving fresh evidence from executives caught up in the scandal including James Murdoch.
The select committee met at 11.30am to discuss new submissions from Murdoch and four other key executives including former head of legal affairs at the tabloid Tom Crone and the former editor Colin Myler who had sensationally accused Murdoch of giving "mistaken" evidence to the committee last month.
Labour MP Tom Watson has already promised that the evidence is "dynamite".
Former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks and News International's former head of legal affairs Jon Chapman have also submitted evidence.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass