Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Harry Cohen (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Settlements out of Court

Question: Did not Mr. Justice Vos, in the Max Clifford case involving the private investigators of Mulcaire, Whittamore and News International, order the disclosure of documents which would have shown the extent of the industrial scale of the defendants' illegal hacking—so was not News International's settling out of court with Mr. Clifford a manipulation of the judicial system to avoid compliance with the disclosure orders? Is not this a scandalous process, amounting to a £1 million cover-up to protect Tory director of communications Andy Coulson, then News of the World editor, from being accountable for the gross malpractices for which he was responsible— ... On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of that reply, I hereby give notice that I shall be giving an application to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

Answer: I understand my hon. Friend's concerns. Of course, any further investigation into allegations about phone-tapping is really a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service and the police. However, we are aware of the report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and we are considering our response to that. It has made some very serious recommendations, and we will of course take those on board and respond in due course.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 508 c120
Session: 2009-10
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Related items: Settlements out of Court
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Subjects: Newspaper press Telephone tapping
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk