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Cameron facing MPs' questions over Coulson appointment Judge considered halting hacking trial after Cameron comments
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron is facing MPs' questions on his decision to employ Andy Coulson, after his former communications director was convicted of conspiring to hack phones between 2000 and 2006. The judge in the phone hacking trial considered halting proceedings following David Cameron's comments on the conviction of Andy Coulson.
The prime minister has said he is "extremely sorry" for hiring Coulson in 2007 and then taking him to No 10. The prime minister apologised on Tuesday for employing Coulson, saying it had been the "wrong decision".
Labour has said his association with Coulson has "tainted" the government. A lawyer for Coulson said this intervention was "ill-advised and premature" given the jury had to reach verdicts on other outstanding charges.
Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would allow limited questions on the matter, after taking legal advice. Meanwhile, Mr Cameron has clashed with Ed Miliband in the Commons.
Coulson was found guilty on Tuesday of conspiring to hack phones when he was editor of the News of the World.Coulson was found guilty on Tuesday of conspiring to hack phones when he was editor of the News of the World.
The jury in the hacking trial is still considering separate charges of misconduct in public office against Coulson and former News of the World (NoW) royal editor Clive Goodman. The jury in the hacking trial has now been discharged after being unable to reach a verdict on separate charges of misconduct in public office against Coulson and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman.
In light of this, Mr Bercow said he had taken legal advice on whether the issue could be raised at the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions at 12:00. A spokesman for the prime minister said David Cameron had taken the "best legal advice before issuing his apology yesterday".
He told MPs he would allow references to Coulson's conviction but not to the outstanding charges or any matters relating to sentencing. He urged MPs to "exercise restraint". He said No 10 had responded to the judge to make it clear that the prime minister's apology was in response to the verdict delivered in open court and was restricted to that issue.
The prime minister appointed Coulson as his media chief in July 2007 - six months after he had quit as NoW editor. The spokesman said there was widespread media coverage of the verdict and the prime minister had sought legal advice before issuing his statement.
Mr Cameron took Coulson into Downing Street after becoming prime minister in 2010, only for him to resign in 2011 amid growing allegations about phone hacking during his time as editor. In Parliament, Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of "wilfully ignoring" warnings about Andy Coulson before hiring him saying Mr Cameron had "brought disgrace to Downing Street".
The prime minister has apologised for hiring Coulson, saying it was the "wrong decision" and that he had relied on undertakings he had been given by his former aide that had turned out to be wrong. He said the PM had failed to answer whether senior civil servants had raised concerns about Coulson but Mr Cameron said all such matters had been considered by the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
Labour has said his apology is insufficient and seeking answers on the degree of vetting that took place before Coulson's appointment. 'Wrong decision'
Asked what checks he had made before employing Coulson, the prime minister said he had asked him "if he knew about phone hacking, and he said he didn't and I accepted those assurances and I gave him the job". Mr Miliband said the prime minister had been "wilfully negligent" and "did not want to know" when it came to the evidence about Coulson.
He said Mr Cameron had ignored a warning from the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg about Coulson as well as media reports over Coulson's alleged knowledge of phone-hacking.
"Today we know that for four years the prime minister's handpicked, closest adviser was a criminal and brought disgrace to Downing Street," he told MPs.
"We also know that the prime minister wilfully ignored multiple warnings about him."
Leveson Inquiry
The Labour leader said Coulson was given a lower level of security clearance than his immediate predecessors and as a result was subject to less thorough scrutiny.
But Mr Cameron said Coulson had been vetted by the senior civil servant in No 10, Sir Jeremy Heywood, and that detailed facts about any involvement in phone-hacking would not have come out in the process.
He added: "Leveson made no criticism of my conduct in this regard whatsoever."
"He looked into all of the issues about the warnings I was given and the response I gave and he made no criticism of my conduct."
The prime minister appointed Coulson as his media chief in July 2007 - six months after he had quit as News of the World editor and took him into Downing Street after becoming prime minister in 2010, only for him to resign in 2011 amid growing allegations about phone hacking during his time as editor.
'Bad mistake''Bad mistake'
Writing in the Times, Conservative peer Lord Finkelstein, a former aide to Chancellor George Osborne, said the prime minister would feel "angry with himself" and faced "awkward" questions about his judgement.Writing in the Times, Conservative peer Lord Finkelstein, a former aide to Chancellor George Osborne, said the prime minister would feel "angry with himself" and faced "awkward" questions about his judgement.
He suggested that when Coulson had been hired in 2007 the issue of hacking "hardly came into it" since "it seemed in the past, the police having investigated, charged people and moved on".He suggested that when Coulson had been hired in 2007 the issue of hacking "hardly came into it" since "it seemed in the past, the police having investigated, charged people and moved on".
This attitude, he acknowledged, now looked "naive and almost wilfully ignorant".This attitude, he acknowledged, now looked "naive and almost wilfully ignorant".
He added: "By the time it came to appointing his Downing Street staff, Andy Coulson was no longer a stranger to the prime minister, someone whose CV should be pored over and references taken up. He had become a close, trusted aide during the years spent in opposition.He added: "By the time it came to appointing his Downing Street staff, Andy Coulson was no longer a stranger to the prime minister, someone whose CV should be pored over and references taken up. He had become a close, trusted aide during the years spent in opposition.
Analysis - BBC political editor Nick RobinsonAnalysis - BBC political editor Nick Robinson
David Cameron could have chosen not to ask his spin-doctor to enter government with him but he chose to ignore the flashing red lights.David Cameron could have chosen not to ask his spin-doctor to enter government with him but he chose to ignore the flashing red lights.
He was warned not to by the press pursuing the story, by colleagues, by his coalition partners as well, of course, as the Labour Party.He was warned not to by the press pursuing the story, by colleagues, by his coalition partners as well, of course, as the Labour Party.
He argues that that was because Coulson had proved himself to be competent and trustworthy.He argues that that was because Coulson had proved himself to be competent and trustworthy.
Others will assert that Cameron was scared to break the link with the former tabloid editor who knew how to reach the parts of the electorate that he could not.Others will assert that Cameron was scared to break the link with the former tabloid editor who knew how to reach the parts of the electorate that he could not.
Coulson believes that if he had never crossed the threshold of No 10 he might not now be facing prison.Coulson believes that if he had never crossed the threshold of No 10 he might not now be facing prison.
Without the link to Number 10 the hacking scandal might never have been front page news and the police would never have launched the massive investigation which is now being played out in court.Without the link to Number 10 the hacking scandal might never have been front page news and the police would never have launched the massive investigation which is now being played out in court.
If David Cameron had simply thanked Coulson for his work in getting him to power but explained that their partnership could not survive he would still be facing embarrassment but not questions about why, as Labour leader Ed Miliband puts it, he brought a criminal into Downing Street.If David Cameron had simply thanked Coulson for his work in getting him to power but explained that their partnership could not survive he would still be facing embarrassment but not questions about why, as Labour leader Ed Miliband puts it, he brought a criminal into Downing Street.
"It was clearly a bad mistake not to have taken a more rigorous view at this point, but I see how it happened.""It was clearly a bad mistake not to have taken a more rigorous view at this point, but I see how it happened."
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said that when Mr Cameron had become Conservative leader in 2005 he had vowed to keep his distance from News of the World proprietor Rupert Murdoch's media empire, but long before he had reached No 10 he had abandoned that strategy and decided instead to hug them close.
Former Labour Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott, himself a victim of phone hacking, said the court had found that Coulson was guilty of "illegal, criminal acts" and that phone hacking had taken place on an "almost industrial scale".
Pressed on the last Labour government's close relationship to Rupert Murdoch, Lord Prescott said politicians and journalists would always talk but "journalists will make their judgements and politicians will make theirs".
"But when there is an abuse of it, there should be an independent assessment of it that protects people like the [parents of Madeleine McCann, who went missing, aged three, in Portugal in 2007, and teenager Milly Dowler, who was murdered in 2002]." he told Radio 4's Today programme.
"They are the ones that have been affected by it."
Former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis said Labour, when it was in government, "did absolutely nothing" about the issue of press regulation.Former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis said Labour, when it was in government, "did absolutely nothing" about the issue of press regulation.
"It was only after Rupert Murdoch changed sides and voted Tory in 2010 that the Labour Party starting screaming," he told Today. "The truth of the matter is that politicians will always try and cosy up to the press.""It was only after Rupert Murdoch changed sides and voted Tory in 2010 that the Labour Party starting screaming," he told Today. "The truth of the matter is that politicians will always try and cosy up to the press."