Tag Archives: Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant apologises for Murdoch-Cameron meetings claim

Labour MP Chris Bryant has apologised for falsely claiming in parliament that prime minister David Cameron held five secret meetings with Rupert Murdoch following the 2010 general election, that had not been declared.

Bryant, who is a “core participant” in the Leveson inquiry, told the Commons yesterday that he had “no intention” of misleading MPs. He has also apologised to Lord Justice Leveson.

He said:

On 25 April, I told the house that the Leveson inquiry had published certain information regarding meetings that had been held between Rupert Murdoch and the prime minister.

I believed at the time that that was the case, but it has subsequently turned out not to be true.

I have, of course, apologised to Lord Justice Leveson, but I thought I should take this opportunity to apologise to the house as well. I hope the apology will be accepted. I had no intention of misleading the house; that was purely inadvertent.

Parliament to quiz MP and senior Met officer over phone-hacking investigation

MP Chris Bryant and acting deputy commissioner for the Metropolitan Police John Yates are due to appear in front of the Home Affairs committee today to answer questions about the Met’s investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking affair.

Earlier this month, Bryant accused Yates of misleading the committee previously in claiming that the number of of phone-hacking victims was between eight and 12.

According to a report by Politics.co.uk, Byrant criticised Yates’ argument that the Crown Prosecution Service’s definition of phone hacking was limited to voicemails intercepted before they were listened to by the intended recipient.

“Yates misled the Committee, whether deliberately or inadvertently. He used an argument that had never been relied on by the CPS or by his own officers so as to suggest that the number of victims was minuscule, whereas in fact we know and he knew that the number of potential victims is and was substantial.”

Last week, appearing before the culture, media and sport select committee, Yates said Bryant was “materially wrong” to accuse him of misleading the committee.

In related news, the Media Guardian reports today that the News of the World’s computers “have retained an archive of potentially damning emails, which hitherto it had claimed had been lost”.

The millions of emails, amounting to half a terabyte of data, could expose executives and reporters involved in hacking the voicemail of public figures, including former deputy prime minister John Prescott, actor Sienna Miller, and former culture secretary Tessa Jowell.

The Guardian reports that MPs on the home affairs select committee are likely to question Yates about these emails later today. You can watch the committee session via Parliament Live TV here.

Independent: Labour MP to make new claims about phone hacking in Commons debate

The Independent reports that Labour MP Chris Bryant has secured a Commons debate on the ongoing phone-hacking case. The paper says that Bryant will make further allegations during the debate, which will take place on Thursday.

Mr Bryant has secured a 30-minute Commons debate on Thursday which will include a formal government response. He said: “It has become apparent that the extent of phone hacking is greater than either News Corporation or the News of the World have admitted to. Indeed, it would seem it was far more substantial than that found by the original investigation that the Metropolitan Police could be bothered to mount.” The Rhondda MP said “enormous issues” had been raised by the scandal, which led to the jailing in 2007 of the private detective Glenn Mulcaire and NOTW’s royal editor Clive Goodman.

Full story on Independent.co.uk at this link