David Cameron has promised to set up a public inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World.
The UK prime minister said claims that the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler had been hacked, with some messages deleted, were "disgusting".
But he told MPs an inquiry could not take place until police investigations were concluded.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron was "out of touch" and an inquiry should be set up sooner.
The prime minister's spokeswoman told the BBC there could even be two inquiries into phone hacking - one into the police handling of the original investigation in the middle of the last decade, and one into the actions of the media.
Or, alternatively, there could be one all-encompassing inquiry, led by a judge.
News International, the publisher of the News of the World, said it welcomed the idea of a wide-ranging public inquiry into standards in the media.
'Revolted'It is claimed that 13-year-old Milly Dowler's voicemail was hacked by an investigator working for the News of the World after she disappeared near her home in Surrey in 2002 .
This follows allegations that dozens of politicians and celebrities, including actor Hugh Grant and former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott, were also targeted.
Amid noisy scenes at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said: "We do need to have an inquiry, possibly inquiries, into what has happened.
"We are no longer talking here about politicians and celebrities. We are talking about murder victims, potentially terrorist victims, having their phones hacked into.
"It is absolutely disgusting, what has taken place, and I think everyone in this House and indeed this country will be revolted by what they have heard and what they have seen on their television screens."
But he added that an inquiry could not happen yet, saying: "There's a major police investigation under way. It's one of the biggest police investigations currently under way in our country."
Mr Cameron said he would discuss the issue with Mr Miliband and other party leaders, along with Attorney General Dominic Grieve and the head of the civil service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Mr Miliband told MPs he was "encouraged" by Mr Cameron's comments but added that it was "possible for the prime minister to start the process now".
He recommended immediately appointing a senior figure, such as a judge, to begin work on looking at "culture and practices" in the newspaper industry.
Mr Miliband also urged Mr Cameron to back his call for Rebekah Brooks, editor of the News of the World at the time of the alleged hacking of Milly's phone, to resign from her current job as chief executive of News International.
The Labour leader also questioned Mr Cameron's decision to hire another former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson, as his director of communications, after he resigned from the paper in 2007 over the phone hacking scandal.
'Very dirty smell'He said: "He's got to accept that he made a catastrophic error of judgement by bringing Andy Coulson into the heart of the Downing Street machine."
The prime minister said that it was important to "let the police do Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment