Lifting the lid

It back to phone-hacking for the broadsheet press where revelations of alleged complicity provided by legal advisors Harbottle & Lewis have made sure that the cesspit is given another stirring.

Lawyers above all know when the time is appropriate to fess up - and when to distance themselves from dodgy clients. In this respect, the information given to the Common culture committee is not only an exercise in disengagement but also adds impeccable provenance in terms of allegations of widespread and institutionalised wrongdoing.

The package of documentation is definitely worth a perusal – especially the redacted bits.

On 2 March 2007, convicted News of the World reporter Clive Goodman wrote to News International's HR director appealing against his dismissal. His letter was copied to Les Hinton, then NI's executive chairman.

Goodman’s primary grounds of appeal were : "(i) The decision is perverse in that the actions leading to this criminal charge were carried out with the fulI knowledge and support of [REDACTED]. Payment for Glen Mulcaire 's services was arranged by [REDACTED]. (ii) The decision is inconsistent, because [REDACTED] and other members of staff were carrying out the same illegal procedures.

Four days later, Hinton gave evidence to the Committee for Media, Sport and Culture in relation to its enquiry into self-regulation of the press. He told the committee that it was “believed” that Goodman was the only transgressor when it came to phone-hacking but that investigations were “continuing”.

The consensus is that former NI executives will find themselves called to give evidence to MPs in September and committee chairman John Whittingdale has already said that James Murdoch will probably need to give a better account of what he knew and when he knew it.

At this rate, the parliamentary committees will have wrapped things up before the Leveson Inquiry has completed its roll call. The underlying mood however within newsrooms and a currently dispersed Westminster is that the actual vehicle is immaterial. For them, each disclosure ensures that the path relentlessly leads, via Andy Coulson, to Downing Street.

It is only a matter of time.