Downing Street Says » News of the World

Asked whether the Prime Minister had a view on the possibility of the former Deputy Prime Minister being the victim of phone-tapping, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister s focus at the moment was very much on the issues that were being discussed at G8 and at the Major Economies meeting this afternoon, chaired by President Obama. Aspects of this that were for the Government to respond to would be addressed by David Hanson in his reply to a question at 1130

Asked if the Prime Minister had been alerted to what had been reported and did he think it was an important issue, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was aware of the story as people would expect, but the issues that related to the Government would be addressed by David Hanson at 1130.

Asked if the Prime Minister s decision to stay out of the issue had anything to do with his strong links to Rupert Murdoch, the PMS said that he did not agree with the premise of the question. The Prime Minister was at the G8 meeting in Italy, where he was dealing with issues including climate change, in preparation for the Copenhagen meeting later this year, development aid, world trade and the action that the G8 and other countries could take to address the recovery of the global economy. Insofar as there were issues for the Government, they would be dealt with by David Hanson in his statement to the Commons at 1130.

Asked how he would characterise the Prime Minister s relationship with Rupert Murdoch, the PMS said that the Prime Minister spoke to a wide variety of people involved in the media, as was well known and well reported. The PMS added that he was not going to start characterising the Prime Minister s relationship with Rupert Murdoch or any other person in the media.

Put that there had been reports that Rebekah Wade had known about some of the alleged bugging activity and would the Prime Minister be concerned if that were the case, the PMS replied that he would not start responding to an allegation of that sort.

Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on whether the current framework for regulating the media was tough enough, the PMS said that we had a system that on the one hand ensured that we had a free press and that was a fundamental feature of our democracy, but of course media of all kinds must abide by the law. Newspapers signed up to a code of practice which was set down by the PCC.

As people would know, in relation to the News of the World, there was a case brought by the Metropolitan Police in respect of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which made it an offence to intercept a telephone call or other communication without lawful authority. Asked if the hacking of email accounts was included in that, the PMS said that he did not have the full act to hand, but the Government would be concerned by any form of illegal activity which was in breach of RIPA.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that communications advisors should be beyond reproach, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his views clear on how people in public life should act at all times and those views had been widely reported.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought there was any read-across from his concerns on MPs expenses to the way the media behaved, the PMS replied that he was not going to start comparing activity by different individuals in public life. The Prime Minister believed that those people in public life should act with honesty and integrity, as he had made clear on previous occasions.

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» Thursday, July 9, 2009

News of the World

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