Former News International executive chairman James Murdoch told MPs in a letter released today that he accepted his share of the blame for not uncovering phone hacking at the News of the World sooner.

Former News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck today defended the public interest of publishing stories which alleged that David Beckham had cheated on his wife and F1 boss Max Mosley had taken part in a “Nazi orgy”.

The former legal chief of News Group Newspapers today told MPs he was “certain” he told James Murdoch about an explosive email which proved that knowledge of phone-hacking was more widespread at the News of the World than the company had claimed.

Claims that James Murdoch knew three years ago that phone hacking at the News of the World was not confined to a single “rogue” reporter have been referred to the police in the UK.