Phone Hacking: MPs To Debate Culture Committee Report On Tuesday

MPs To Debate Phone-Hacking Report

MPs will debate censuring News International executives found guilty of misleading parliament by the Commons culture committee on Tuesday.

On 1 May the committee controversially found that Rupert Murdoch was "not fit to run a major international company" and said the media mogul "turned a blind eye" to the phone hacking scandal that brought down News of the World.

While neither Rupert nor James Murdoch emerged unscathed, they, along with former News International executive Rebekah Brooks, escaped formal censure for misleading parliament.

However the committee unanimously found that former News International chief Les Hinton, former News of the World editor Colin Myler and former News of the World legal manager Tom Crone had misled Parliament.

Following the publication of the report, Myler, now the editor of the New York Daily News, said: "I stand by the evidence that I gave the committee."

While Hinton also issued a statement, saying he was "shocked and disappointed" at the allegations against him, which he called "unfounded, unfair and erroneous."

In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, Speaker John Bercow said MPs would be given the chance to debate the culture committee's report on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the main protagonists in the phone hacking saga, Labour MP Tom Watson, may be forced to miss the Commons debate as he is due to appear before the Leveson inquiry into press ethics on Tuesday.

The member of the culture committee conflicted with some Tory members of the committee after insisting that they included the heavy condemnation of Rupert Murdoch in the report.

Close

What's Hot