Returns from truncated Africa tour to field questions from opposition and his MPs; names members of judicial inquiry into hacking scam.
Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, at an emergency session in the House of Commons today, apologised for having appointed Andy Coulson as his director of communication. Coulson had to quit in January this year, after it was reported that he knew of the phone hacking by the News of the World (NoTW) while he was the tabloid’s editor.
Cameron said, “Of course I regret, and I am extremely sorry, about the furore it has caused. With 20/20 hindsight – and all that has followed – I would not have offered him the job and I expect that he wouldn’t have taken it. But you don’t make decisions in hindsight; you make them in the present. You live and you learn – and believe you me, I have learnt.”
He said if Coulson had lied to him about his alleged role in the phone hacking while in NoTW, he would face severe criminal charges. “If it turns out I have been lied to that would be a moment for a profound apology, and in that event I can tell you, I will not fall short.”
In a 14-minute statement Cameron read in the Commons, he also named members of the judicial inquiry that will be led by Lord Justice (Sir Brian) Leveson. The members of this inquiry will not only investigate the phone hacking scandal practiced across the media but also look into regulatory policies for the media in its dealings with politicians and the police. “The inquiry should consider not just the relationship between the press, police and politicians but their individual conduct, too,” Cameron said.
The Levenson committee will have Sir David Bell, former chairman of the Financial Times; Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group, Liberty; Lord David Currie, former chairman of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries; Elinor Goodman, former Channel 4 political editor; George Jones, former Daily Telegraph political editor and Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former West Midlands chief constable.
Jo Johnson, the former New Delhi-based South Asia chief of the Financial Times, now member of Parliament, told Business Standard, “The authority and scope of the inquiry demonstrates this Government’s profound recognition that there has been a sustained culture of malpractice within both the tabloid press and the police, as well as its commitment to cleaning up journalism in Britain. Britain has a competitive and boisterous press, of which we should largely be proud. However, where there has been criminality, the law must be applied, and I hope this scandal will usher in a new age of ethical standards in the media.”
Cameron had to return home early from a five-day Africa tour, due to pressure from members in both the opposition Labour and his own Conservative party to face questions in Parliament. He faced around 130 questions, mostly relating to the phone hacking case and his relationship with Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corporation and its UK subsidiary, News International.
He was repeatedly questioned about whether in the several meetings he had with executives from News International since becoming Prime Minister in May 2010, he had discussed Murdoch’s plan to buy out British satellite broadcaster BSkyB. Cameron simply stated that “nothing inappropriate was discussed”.
Commentators praised Cameron for his skills as a parliamentarian, seen firing from all cylinders to the most awkward questions raised about his judgement as Prime Minister.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said hiring Andy Coulson was a “catastrophic error of judgement”.
Royal shock
Quoting unnamed sources, Sky News said the staff in Buckingham Palace were astonished by the decision to appoint David Cameron’s former director of communication. Later, both the Palace and Cameron’s office denied any such conversation taking place between the royal household and Number 10, Downing Street.
