Phone hacking: Cameron's 'reget' over hiring Coulson

Phone-hacking scandal

David Cameron has told MPs that "with hindsight" he would not have hired ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson.

In the closest he has come to an apology, the PM said: "Of course I regret, and I am extremely sorry, about the furore it has caused."
Amid stormy Commons scenes, Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the PM of a "catastrophic error of judgement".
Mr Cameron returned early from a trip to Africa to make an emergency statement on the phone hacking crisis.
He said that if Mr Coulson - Mr Cameron's former media spokesman - had lied about phone hacking at his time at the News of the World then he should face "severe" criminal charges.
'Protect himself' He added: "If it turns out I have been lied to that would be a moment for a profound apology, and in that event I can tell you I will not fall short."
And he told MPs that with hindsight "I would not have offered him the job and I expect that he wouldn't have taken it".
But Mr Miliband said this was "not good enough" and repeated questions about Mr Coulson had been met "with a wall of silence" by Mr Cameron's aides.

"The country has the right to expect that the prime minister would have made every effort to know the facts about Mr Coulson, to protect himself and his office," he said.

"This can't be put down to gross ignorance. It was a deliberate attempt to hide from the facts on Mr Coulson."
Mr Cameron also faced a barrage of questions from Labour MPs over whether he had broken the ministerial code by discussing Rupert Murdoch's bid to take control of BSkyB with News International executives such as Rebekah Brooks.
To roars of outrage from the Opposition benches, Mr Cameron replied: "I never had any inappropriate conversations".
He insisted he had taken himself out of the decision-making process entirely - and that his Labour predecessors Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had enjoyed a closer relationship with the Murdoch empire than him.
Emergency debate Confidence in the media and the police has been shaken by alleged malpractice at the News of the World and the resignations of two senior Met Police officers.
Downing Street released emails on Tuesday showing that Mr Cameron's chief of staff Ed Llewellyn had prevented senior police officers briefing the Tory leader on the phone-hacking investigation.
Mr Coulson's former deputy at the News of the World, Neil Wallis, also gave "informal" advice to the Conservative Party ahead of the election, the party has confirmed.
Both Mr Wallis and Mr Coulson have since been arrested and questioned by detectives on the new phone-hacking inquiry launched earlier this year.
In other developments in the phone hacking saga:

• Mr Cameron says the public inquiry into the phone hacking scandal will be widened to examine the conduct of individuals in the police, media and politics.
• Speaker John Bercow launches an independent investigation into the incident at Rupert Murdoch's committee hearing on Tuesday, saying it was "wholly unacceptable"
• The Met Police is accused of a "catalogue of failures" over the News of the World phone-hacking inquiry in a damning report by MPs
• Downing Street and Buckingham Palace strongly deny claims by Labour MP Chris Bryant that royal officials raised concerns about Mr Coulson's appointment
• The protester accused of throwing a paper plate of shaving foam at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to the Commons media select committee has been charged with a public order offence. Jonathan May-Bowles, 26, will appear before City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday
• Shares in News Corporation rose by 6% at the close of trading in New York after Rupert and James Murdoch's appearance in front of the committee
• The law firm hired by News International in 2007 to review allegations of phone hacking says it is being prevented from responding to "inaccurate" comments made by James Murdoch. Mr Murdoch said a letter written by the law firm made executives at News International believe that hacking was a "matter of the past". Harbottle and Lewis says it is not being allowed to breach client confidentiality
• Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Australian arm of News Corp will have to answer "hard questions"

The Commons is sitting for an extra day after the prime minister delayed MPs' summer recess so he could address the issue.
A general debate on public confidence in the media and police which could last up to six hours.