MPs to grill police in hacking probe

Senior police chiefs in the UK will be quizzed over the phone hacking scandal today as two MPs called for a top officer to resign amid accusations he repeatedly lied to parliament.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who assessed the initial investigation into phone hacking in 2009 but ruled there was no further evidence, will defend his actions, saying he was never asked to carry out a review of the original inquiry.

But Labour’s Chris Bryant has called for his resignation, telling the Commons that Scotland Yard’s most senior counter-terrorism officer was guilty of “repeatedly lying” to MPs.

Labour MP Tom Watson added that the officer’s position was now “untenable” after he “misled Parliament”.

Mr Yates is one of four senior officers from the Metropolitan Police who will give evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee.

He told the Sunday Telegraph that his 2009 decision was “pretty crap” and admitted mistakes before continuing to defend himself in a letter to the committee which was released yesterday.

He denied being asked to review his force’s original phone-hacking investigation in 2006, which resulted in the News of the World’s former royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire being jailed.

Mr Yates wrote: “From the beginning of my involvement in this matter in 2009, I have never conducted a ’review’ of the original investigation and nor have I ever been asked to do so.

“In relation to events that took place in 2009, I was provided with some considerable reassurance (and at a number of levels) that led me to a view that this case neither needed to be reopened or reviewed.”

He added that it was a “source of great regret” that the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone was not discovered earlier.

Scotland Yard also accused News International of “undermining” its investigation into claims that journalists paid corrupt police officers by leaking details of the inquiry to the media.

The move came as three other senior officers were preparing to face the MPs.

Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, said former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, the officer in charge of the original inquiry, will be questioned over “who knew what at which point”.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is in charge of the current probe, Operation Weeting, will also be questioned, but is expected to be limited in what she can say due to the ongoing inquiries.

Former assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, the Met’s former counter-terrorism chief, will also give evidence to the MPs.

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Mr Bryant said: “One of the biggest problems we have here is that the police did fail to act systematically.

“Assistant Commissioner Yates repeatedly lied to parliament. He said that there were very few victims. He said all the victims had been contacted. He said all the mobile phone companies had been put on notice in relation to this.

“He is in charge of counter-terrorism in this country for heaven’s sake. Surely he should resign.”