The news that Les Hinton, the former News International executive chairman, will give evidence to the Commons media committee as part of its inquiry into the alleged phone hacking by the News of the World is more significant than it appears.
It was Hinton, now chief executive of Dow Jones, who appeared before the committee after the News of the World’s former royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glen Mulcaire were jailed in January 2007 for tapping the phones of royal staff.
The key exchange with the committee chairman, John Whittingdale, ran:
Whittingdale: You carried out a full, rigorous internal inquiry and you are absolutely convinced that Clive Goodman was the only person who knew what was going on?
Hinton: Yes, we have and I believe he was the only person, but that investigation, under the new editor, continues.
It’s worth noting Hinton’s use of the caveat “I believe”, which offers him some wriggle room.
Whittingdale has since said that evidence that other reporters were involved in the hacking operation “might contradict” Hinton’s testimony.
Expect questions to focus on the emails uncovered by the Guardian suggesting that Neville Thurlbeck, the paper’s chief reporter, was also involved.
Let’s hope that the committee has more success in its face-off with Hinton than it did with Andy Coulson, the News of the World editor at the time, who still shamelessly maintains that he had no knowledge of the affair.
As I’ve continually argued, if Coulson did know about the phone hacking then he’s too wicked to be the Tories’ spin chief, and if he didn’t know then he’s too stupid to be the Tories’ spin chief.
But in the unlikely event that Coulson is forced to step down there may be a replacement waiting in the wings. Conservative sources tell me that Team Cameron regards Matthew d’Ancona, who recently resigned as editor of the Spectator, as the ideal candidate for the job.
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