"This does raise more concerns about the relationship between the police and the press, and we need urgent answers from the Met.

"Despite the concerns raised about hacking and the police investigations into News of the World, the Deputy Editor at the time ended up being employed by the Met police. And the Editor at the time ended up employed by the Prime Minister.

"Like Downing Street, the Met need to provide more answers about the security and propriety checks they did before making this employment decision and they need to provide more answers about what seems a very questionable judgement.

"We pressed from the start for the wider relationship between the press and the police, as well as between the press and politics to be part of the judicial inquiry. But we cannot wait for the inquiry for this level of openness and transparency to be forthcoming", the Shadow Home Secretary told LBC.

Detectives are examining a computer, paperwork and a phone found in a bin near the riverside London home of Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International.

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James Clappinson says: "We will want to try and find out as much more as we can about this tomorrow. It is the first opportunity we've had to see Sir Paul Stephenson and to ask him for his views on it."

39% of the public say their opinion of him has gone down since the scandal. 27% say their opinion of Nick Clegg has gone down and 20% say their opinion of Ed Miliband has gone down,

CON 34% (-5), LAB 39% (-1), LDEM 11% (+2)

As Theresa May put it in an impressive statement to the House earlier, “These allegations are not, unfortunately, the only recent example of alleged corruption and nepotism in the police.” She then vowed to open an inquiry into these matters, which will stand in addition to the two already announced by the government. The panel will have plenty to look at, as Michael White explained in the Spectator a few years back.

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These figures, from the UK’s highest regarded political pollster, will bring real cheer to both coalition partners. They are in very sharp contrast to YouGov which in recent weeks has been showing Labour with significant leads.

Another Times poll is due laterhttp://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2011/07/18/lds-up-4-and-lab-down-3-in-new-icm-poll/

Alan Johnson tells Channel 4 News: "What happened when the Guardian story blew - one newspaper reporting this in July 2009 - is that the Met were very clear that we'd had the inquiry, we'd had two people put away and there's lots of other things to do - should we go on a wild goose chase? The Director of Public Prosecutions was looking at all the evidence... only one newspaper is reporting it. We didn't know than about Milly Dowler, we didn't know then about 7/7 families, so at that time that kind of lethargy..."

At a time when the reputation of News of the World journalists is at rock bottom, it needs to be said that the paper's former showbusiness correspondent Sean Hoare, who died on Monday, was a lovely man.

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It is normal practice that officers are not made aware of complaints until after they have been recorded. Therefore Sir Paul Stephenson would not have had any knowledge that a complaint had been received until the meeting concluded this morning and he was duly notified.

"The Menezes case raised serious issues about both the accountability of and trust in the police. People have not forgotten the lies and deliberate misinformation that they put in the public domain to justify the killing of Jean. The News of the World hacking case and the inappropriate relationships senior officers had with senior figures at News International has brought many of those same issues back to the fore, raising questions of integrity of many of the same officers such as John Yates and former officer Andy Hayman. The family of Jean faced years of obfuscation from many of these senior officers in their quest for justice."

ICM/Guardian: CON 37% (nc), LAB 36% (-3), LDEM 16% (+4)

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Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbiz reporter who was the first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead, the Guardian has learned.

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In a statement, the campaigning group say:

There is an undercurrent of corruption in several key UK institutions. This scandal alone has shone the spotlight on the media, the police, politicians, regulatory scrutiny and the ethical integrity of a major UK company.

Yet several anti-corruption oversight structures are being hastily dismantled or severely cut back under government plans.

This should be put on hold until the consequences have been properly examined.

He told Sky: "The Prime Minister is unable to show that leadership because of the decision he made to hire Andy Coulson in the first place, because of his failure to answer questions about Andy Coulson and his being brought into the heart of Downing Street. Also his inexplicable failure to apologise for his terrible error of judgement in hiring Andy Coulson."

See more at ladbrokes.com

Earlier on this afternoon I informed the Home Secretary, the Mayor of London and the Chair of the Police Authority of my intention to resign as Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. It is with great regret that I make this decision after nearly 30 years as a police officer.

I wish to pay tribute to the many fine officers and police staff with whom I have served. I will miss them hugely, but I know that they will continue to do their utmost to protect the public and of course this great capital city.

We in the Police Service are truly accountable. Those of us who take on the most difficult jobs clearly have to stand up and be counted when things go wrong. However, when we get things wrong, we say so and try and put them right. As I have said very recently, it is a matter of great personal regret that those potentially affected by phone hacking were not dealt with appropriately.

Sadly, there continues to be a huge amount of inaccurate, ill-informed and on occasion downright malicious gossip published about me personally. This has the potential to be a significant distraction in my current role as the national lead for Counter Terrorism. I see no prospect of this improving in the coming weeks and months as we approach one of the most important events in the history of the Metropolitan Police Service, the 2012 Olympic Games. The threats that we face in the modern world are such that I would never forgive myself if I was unable to give total commitment to the task of protecting London and the country during this period. I simply cannot let this situation continue.

It is a matter of great personal frustration that despite my efforts, on a number of occasions, to explain the true facts surrounding my role in these matters since 2009, there remains confusion about what exactly took place.

I have acted with complete integrity and my conscience is clear. I look forward to the future Judge-led inquiry where my role will be examined in a proper and calmer environment and where my actions will be judged on the evidence rather than on innuendo and speculation as they are at present.

They said today in a statement:

We have today received referrals from the Metropolitan Police Authority about the conduct of four current or former senior Metropolitan Police officers.

"It is with great regret that I make this decision after nearly 30 years as a police officer", he says.

He condemns "malicious gossip" that had been published about him. "I have acted with complete integrity. My conscience is clear."

What’s News Corp. (NWS) really worth? At least 50 percent more without Rupert Murdoch.

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One of the striking things about the wall to wall hackgate coverage on the 24 hours news channels is the absence of Tory voices defending the Prime Minister. It is coming to something when the leader of another political party, Nick Clegg, is doing more to defend the PM than most of the Tory members of the Cabinet.

Read more at the Spectator

"Once Sir Paul Stephenson resigned, it became inevitable that John Yates would step down as well, given his close connections to the original investigation.

"John Yates has done some superb work for the Met, however by his own admission he spent just 8 hours reviewing 11,000 pages of evidence within which were buried details of the most heinous crimes. Literally hundreds of victims of phone hacking were failed and his resignation is long overdue. He made a monumental error of judgment which rendered his position untenable."

"We now need urgent action to rebuild London's senior police team so they are in post and able to rebuild the Metropolitan Police's credibility and be ready for their biggest challenge next year, the security arrangements for the Olympics."

There was a mistake due to an admistrative error first time round.