Phone hacking row: Cameron 'must come clean' over Murdoch

 

Full details of meetings with the Murdochs and other media chiefs have now been released

Prime Minister David Cameron and his senior colleagues must "come clean" over their dealings with the Murdoch family, Labour has said.

The party has sent letters to Cabinet ministers, containing more than 50 questions it claims have still not been addressed by the coalition.
It comes in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "We moved quickly to publish all meetings with editors and proprietors."
But Labour is asking what discussions key ministers had with the Murdochs about their attempt to take full control of BSkyB.
The bid collapsed following intense pressure at the height of the hacking revelations.
Labour has demanded Mr Cameron reveals "the dates, nature and content of the discussions" he had with James or Rupert Murdoch as well as ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks about the deal.
The party is also attempting to keep up the pressure on Mr Cameron and his colleagues about Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who then worked as Downing Street communications chief for seven months.
The letter calls on the Prime Minister to reveal if he spoke to Mr Coulson following his arrest.
'Tangled web' Shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis said: "The signs are that David Cameron still does not get it.
"David Cameron and George Osborne treated warnings about Andy Coulson with contempt and failed to put a proper distance between themselves and senior News Corp executives during the consideration of the BSkyB bid.
"A tangled web of their own making will not go away until they and their cabinet colleagues give full and frank answers to legitimate questions."
It has previously been reported that Mr Cameron had 26 separate meetings with executives from Mr Murdoch's companies since last May's election.
Labour leader Ed Miliband had 15 meetings or social contacts with News International executives over the same period, while Chancellor George Osborne had 16.
Mr Cameron has ordered all ministerial meetings with media proprietors, senior editors and executives be published.
It comes amid fears that politicians have become too close to the Murdoch empire.
Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg published a list of their meetings earlier this month.

Metropolitan Police starts computer hacking probe

 

The new team will report to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers

A new team of officers is to probe allegations of computer hacking, the Metropolitan Police has announced.

Operation Tuleta will examine breach of privacy claims received since January.
It comes as the private investigator at the centre of phone-hacking allegations, Glenn Mulcaire, says he "acted on the instructions of others".
The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne said she was "very distressed" after being told she may have been phone hacked by Mulcaire.
Scotland Yard said the new team will investigate matters not covered by its phone-hacking inquiry, Operation Weeting, and report to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers.
A spokesman said there had previously been a "consideration of allegations" of computer hacking rather than an investigation, but now "some aspects of that operation are being moved towards investigation".
The Met investigation is understood to include an examination of the covert use of "Trojan horse" computer viruses, which allow hackers to take control of third-party computers.
BSkyB board Last March, a BBC Panorama programme alleged that a senior News of the World executive obtained emails hacked into by a private detective.
Panorama claimed the paper's then-Irish edition editor Alex Marunchak was sent ex-British intelligence officer Ian Hurst's private emails in 2006.
Mr Marunchak has denied any wrongdoing. He said: "I have never met with a private investigator whom I asked to hack into computers to obtain confidential emails or other information.
"It is absolutely untrue any unlawfully obtained material was ever received by me at the News of the World's offices in Dublin."
In other developments:

• A group of ex-News of the World journalists are to launch legal action against their former employer seeking damages for the harm done to their careers by the newspaper's management
• The Labour Party has published a list of the shadow cabinet's meetings with the media
• MPs voted against recalling News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking for the time being
• Baroness Buscombe will step down as head of the Press Complaints Commission after criticism of the PCC's handling of the phone-hacking scandal
• BSkyB's board unanimously agreed to keep James Murdoch as its chairman
• A man appeared in court and admitted throwing a foam pie at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to a committee of MPs
• Conservative MP Louise Mensch apologised to former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan for accusing him of "boasting" about hacking phones

On Friday, Glenn Mulcaire's legal team said any suggestion he acted unilaterally for the News of the World newspaper was "untrue".
Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 after admitting to phone hacking while he was working for the paper.
In a statement they said: "As an employee he [Mulcaire] acted on the instructions of others.
"There were also occasions when he understood his instructions were from those who genuinely wished to assist in solving crimes.
"Any suggestion that he acted in such matters unilaterally is untrue. In the light of the ongoing police investigation, he cannot say any more."
Speaking for the first time on Friday evening, Ms Payne spoke of her distress but said she still had faith in those who had supported her.
"I am, as you can imagine, very distressed and upset by the news that my details have been found on Mulcaire's list and would like to thank everyone for their kind words of support," she said in a statement.
"I can confirm reports that I was given a phone by the campaign team and that my voicemail was only activated after my first aneurysm.
"Notwithstanding the bad apples involved here, my faith remains solidly behind all the good people who have supported me over the last 11 years. I will never lose my faith in them."
'Deeply concerned' The then-editor Rebekah Brooks said it was "unthinkable" anyone at the paper knew.
Mrs Brooks said Ms Payne had become a "dear friend" during the News of the World's campaign for Sarah's Law.
"The idea that anyone on the newspaper knew that Sara or the campaign team were targeted by Mr Mulcaire is unthinkable," she said in a statement on Thursday.
"It is imperative for Sara and the other victims of crime that these allegations are investigated and those culpable brought to justice."
News International has said it "takes this matter very seriously and is deeply concerned like everyone".
Prime Minister David Cameron described the hacking scandal as "shocking in terms of the dreadful things that have happened".
There have also been allegations that the News of the World accessed the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks and families of killed British soldiers.
Meanwhile, staff at the New York Post, also owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, have been told to save any information relating to phone hacking or bribery of government officials.
The paper's editor Col Allan told staff the advice was in light of the NoW allegations and "not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful".

Phone hacking: PCC head Baroness Buscombe stepping down

 

Baroness Buscombe will quit after completing three years as head of the PCC

The head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has announced she will step down after criticism of its handling of the phone-hacking scandal.

Baroness Peta Buscombe has chaired the watchdog since April 2009 but has faced a backlash over the saga, which led to the closure of the News of the World.
Baroness Buscombe said she would not continue in the role when her three-year term in office ends next year.
She will aid the Leveson phone-hacking inquiry as a media regulation expert.
Baroness Buscombe said in a statement: "I am pleased that the commission want me to continue in post until my successor has been appointed.
"Thereafter, I will be able to be a campaigner for change from outside the organisation.
"I wish to contribute to the Leveson inquiry and participate fully in the overall debate regarding reform, unfettered by my role as chairman of the PCC."
Code of practice Baroness Buscombe, 57, is a former lawyer and chief executive of the Advertising Association.
She was elevated to the House of Lords in 1998 and has been a Tory frontbench spokeswoman on several subjects.
In November 2009, she withstood calls to resign after she questioned lawyer Mark Lewis's evidence to MPs over phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World (NoW).
Mr Lewis brought a libel action against the PCC and Baroness Buscombe over the comments.
She also came under fire the same month for a report in which the PCC appeared to clear the NoW of phone hacking after after the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007.
The PCC was established in 1991 to enforce a code of practice for UK newspaper and magazine publishers and editors.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron accused the PCC of being "ineffective and lacking in rigour" and cited the need for a "new system entirely". Labour leader Ed Miliband said the self-regulatory body was a "toothless poodle".
The Metropolitan Police's Operation Weeting is investigating claims of phone hacking at the News of the World, which was closed after it emerged that the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler had been hacked.
In other developments:

• The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has voted not to recall Labour MP Tom Watson is asking the Culture, Media and Sport committee to recall News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking
• Allegations have emerged that News of the World illegally accessed the phone belonging to the mother of murder victim Sarah Payne
• BSkyB's board has unanimously agreed to keep James Murdoch as its chairman
• A man has admitted throwing a shaving foam pie at Rupert Murdoch

The culture committee has voted against recalling News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking.
Appearing before the committee earlier this month, Mr Murdoch said he had not been "aware" of an email suggesting hacking went wider than a "rogue" NoW reporter.
This was later disputed by ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper's ex-legal manager Tom Crone.
Labour MP Tom Watson had wanted the three men to be called to give evidence on the email but the committee instead decided to write to the men for more details.
Committee chairman John Whittingdale said it would also write to law firm Harbottle and Lewis, who investigated the phone hacking claims on behalf of News International.
Mr Whittingdale said the committee would meet again next month after it had received replies to its letters and "chances are" the MPs would then wish to take oral evidence.
Sarah's Law The latest development comes after the mother of murder victim Sarah Payne learned she may have been a phone-hacking victim.
Police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by Mulcaire, who was used by the NoW, which championed her Sarah's Law child protection campaign.
According to a report in the Guardian, the evidence uncovered by police in Mulcaire's notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Ms Payne by the NoW's then-editor Rebekah Brooks "as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters".
The BBC has not been able to confirm whether the evidence relates to this particular mobile.
But Mrs Brooks, who left her role as NI chief executive because of the hacking scandal but denies having had any knowledge of the practice while at the paper, says the phone "was not a personal gift".
She said the allegations were "abhorrent and particularly upsetting as Sara Payne is a dear friend".
On Friday it was announced that James Murdoch had received the backing of the BSkyB board to remain as the company's chairman. The decision was confirmed in BSkyB's annual results statement.
BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch told the Today programme the decision to keep Mr Murdoch in the position had been unanimous.
"I think James has got strong support in the shareholder base, he's got strong support in the management base and unanimous support in the board."
Mr Darroch said the board would keep a watching brief on external events but when asked what it would take to get Mr Murdoch to step down, refused to speculate.
Meanwhile, a man has admitted throwing a shaving foam pie at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to a committee of MPs.
The News Corporation chairman was targeted as he answered questions about the phone-hacking scandal last week.
Jonathan May-Bowles, 26, of Windsor, Berkshire, admitted assault and causing harassment, alarm or distress when he appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Sara Payne 'on phone hack list'

 

Sara Payne worked closely with then editor Rebekah Brooks and the News of the World

The mother of murder victim Sarah Payne has been told she may have been the victim of phone-hacking, her charity has said.

Police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by private detective Glenn Mulcaire, who was used by the News of the World, which championed her child protection campaign.
The Phoenix charity says Ms Payne is "absolutely devastated".
The paper's owner News International has not yet responded to the claims.
The Metropolitan Police's Operation Weeting is investigating claims of phone-hacking at the paper, which was shut down earlier this month following claims that the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler had been hacked while the Surrey schoolgirl was still missing.
Ms Payne had previously said she had not been told she was a potential victim of phone hacking.
But in a statement the Phoenix charity said: "Whilst it was previously confirmed by 'Operation Weeting' that Sara Payne's name was not on Private Investigator 'Glenn Mulcaire' list, it has now been confirmed by the 'Operation Weeting' that Sara's details are on his list.
"Sara is absolutely devastated by this news, we're all deeply disappointed and are just working to get her through it.
"Sara will continue to work with the proper authorities regarding this matter, there will be a further statement in due course, but at this point in time, she (or we) can make no further comment."
Committee hearing Ms Payne became a campaigner for the right for parents to know if paedophile were in their area, after her eight-year-old daughter was murdered by paedophile Roy Whiting in Pulborough, West Sussex in 2000.
The NoW championed her campaign for the introduction of so-called Sarah's Law.
In the final edition of the NoW on 10 July, Ms Payne wrote a farewell column for the paper describing its staff as "my good and trusted friends".
Therese Coffey MP, a member of the culture, media and sport committee, said: "This is another dark chapter in this ongoing saga and I can't imagine the stress Mrs Payne is going through right now."
The committee has heard evidence from former NoW editor Rebekah Brooks, NI chairman James Murdoch, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman of parent company News Corporation, all of whom denied knowing about the extent of phone hacking allegations at the paper until late 2010.
She said the MPs were meeting on Friday and could choose to reopen its inquiry, calling further witnesses, she added.
Meanwhile, the judge leading the public inquiry into phone-hacking says he will use his powers to demand evidence from witnesses "as soon as possible".
Lord Justice Leveson said he would also invite all editors, journalists and media owners to flag up what they saw as "inappropriate" practices.

Prime Minister David Cameron's statement on phone hacking

Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament to tell MPs that he would not have appointed Andy Coulson as his communications chief if he had predicted the "furore" it had caused.
In a Commons statement on 20 July 2011, he said he was "extremely sorry" about the decision and he took responsibility for it.
He added that he would give a "profound apology" if it turned out that the assurances Mr Coulson had given him that he was not aware of phone-hacking proved to be false.
He also defended his chief of staff Ed Llewellyn's decision to decline an offer from former Met police Assistant Commissioner John Yates to brief Mr Cameron on the police's phone-hacking investigation.
In the first recall of Parliament since 2002, Mr Cameron updated MPs on the remit of the judicial inquiry into the scandal, which will be led by Lord Justice Leveson, and named the members of the panel for the inquiry.
They are director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, the former chief constable of the West Midlands Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former chairman of Ofcom Lord David Currie, former political editor of Channel 4 news Elinor Goodman, former Daily Telegraph political editor George Jones, and former FT chairman Sir David Bell.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron had been caught in "a tragic conflict of loyalty" and "hamstrung" by his decision to stand by Mr Coulson.
He alleged that Mr Llewellyn had helped to build "a wall of silence" around the prime minister.
"This catastrophic error of judgment - hiring Andy Coulson, hanging on to him too long - directly contributed to the position Sir Paul found himself in and his decision to resign," said Mr Miliband.
The Labour leader accused Mr Cameron of "consistently ignoring warnings" about his director of communications and said people would have expected "very loud alarm bells" to ring in Mr Cameron's mind following allegations in the New York Times.
"This can't be put down to gross incompetence. It was a deliberate attempt to hide from the facts," said Mr Miliband.

Fears over Andy Coulson's clearance as officials admit: We thought he had been vetted

Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor and David Cameron's former director of communications. 

Senior government officials working with Andy Coulson believed that he did have the highest security clearance, it is claimed, raising questions over whether the prime minister's former aide was improperly granted access to the most sensitive information.
Last week it emerged that the former editor of the News of the World had not undergone the most intensive vetting on becoming the prime minister's director of communications and so was working without the highest level of clearance. This should have restricted his access to some documents.
But Labour MP Chris Bryant told the Observer that he had been informed by senior officials that they had believed Coulson was working with the same security clearance as had been held by Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's press security, who underwent the toughest vetting procedures, which are known as DV (developed vetting).
The development raises the question of whether Coulson, who was given the lesser clearance known as SC (security check), was allowed access that his security status did not warrant.
David Cameron has already admitted he did not know that Coulson, who was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of phone hacking and corruption, had only received the mid-range vetting until six months ago. Bryant, who along with Tom Watson has been pursuing the phone-hacking case in parliament, said: "Officials have told me Coulson had the same security clearance as any other director of communications would need, which would allow him to see security sensitive material. Yet we now know Coulson was never properly vetted – and if he had been he probably wouldn't have passed. It's one thing for Cameron to be cavalier with the Tory party's plans, quite another when it comes to national security."
The Labour party has asked if the reason for giving Coulson only the lower-level clearance was to prevent information about his past coming to light. Coulson was subject only to the standard level of scrutiny, including a check of whether he had a criminal record, and of his financial history and family background. The high level of clearance involves more detailed probing of an individual's circumstances, including interviews with the subject and with friends and family members.Coulson did begin high-security vetting in November, about three months before he resigned as David Cameron's director of communications. It was decided that Coulson needed it following communication problems surrounding the discovery of an explosive device on an aircraft at East Midlands airport in October 2010.
Downing Street has denied that anything discovered during this vetting process had anything to do with Coulson's resignation. On Saturday a spokesman referred to a letter to shadow minister Ivan Lewis from cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, in which O'Donnell said he had supported Coulson's initial level of vetting and that Cameron's former press aide had subsequently been willing to undergo the more intrusive process.
The letter said: "I can assure you that Mr Coulson was very happy to participate fully in securing DV. The decision on the timing of this process was taken purely on the basis of business requirements and his resignation had nothing to do with this" A No 10 said Coulson complied with the code of conduct when he was in government.

Sunday Mirror phone-hacking claim revealed by Newsnight

 

A source told Newsnight that Sunday Mirror reporters used phone hacking to get scoops

Evidence of possible phone hacking at the Sunday Mirror newspaper has been found by the BBC's Newsnight.

The programme spoke to a journalist who worked on the paper in the past decade who claimed to have witnessed routine phone hacking in the newsroom.
The source said celebrities including actress Liz Hurley and footballer Rio Ferdinand were targeted.
Trinity Mirror said its journalists work within the criminal law and Press Complaints Commission code of conduct.
Also it has emerged that Lord Leveson, the judge who will lead the hacking inquiry has said he had attended functions with Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law - but that he had informed Prime Minister David Cameron of this before the appointment was announced.
'Dark arts'
The allegations about the Sunday Mirror were detailed by a source who told Newsnight: "One afternoon in the newsroom I saw Liz Hurley's phone being hacked and a reporter listen to her mobile phone messages and take a note of what was said.
"It was a Thursday and I was told that there wasn't much on there - just something about lunch from another woman, so they would keep trying before the weekend to see what they could find."
The programme's source said the technique of phone hacking was used on a daily basis.
"Designated reporters would be doing it pretty much every day," they said.
"One reporter who was very good at it was called the 'master of the dark arts'.
Voiceover artist "At one point in 2004 it seemed like it was the only way people were getting scoops.
"If they didn't just randomly hack people in the news, they would use it to stand up stories that people had denied."
The source claimed the Sunday Mirror hired a voiceover artist to imitate famous people in order to get information about them.
"I was told he had successfully managed to get health records too," the source said.
"He was such a god of a voiceover artist that he could pretend to be famous people or failing that he'd pretend to be their lawyer or someone related to them.
"I was told that we had got [actress] Leslie Ash's medical records from the 'dark arts'."
'Followed extensively' Meanwhile, BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said a former Daily Mirror journalist James Hipwell has told an Australian newspaper he is willing to testify that in the late 1990s Mirror journalists were told to go through the voicemails of celebrities to look for stories.
Hipwell has served time in prison for writing about companies whose shares he owned.
Trinity Mirror Group said in a statement: "Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct."
The BBC has also learned that the News of the World hired a private investigator to follow Labour MP Tom Watson while he attended his party's conference in Brighton in 2009.
A source close to the now defunct Sunday tabloid said the paper was attempting to write a story about the MP but nothing was published.
There is no suggestion that Mr Watson's mobile phone was hacked.
"Politicians were being followed extensively," said the source who worked for the newspaper for several years but asked not to be named.
News International, which published the News of the World, said it would not comment.
Family connection Meanwhile, the BBC's Robin Brant said that Lord Leveson had made the disclosure about his connection to the Murdoch family to both David Cameron and the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, before he was chosen last week as the man to lead the judicial inquiry into phone hacking.
The senior judge met with Matthew Freud, who is married to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth, at functions while he was chairman of the sentencing council, which advises the government on sentencing policy.
Downing Street said Lord Leveson attended the events organised by Mr Freud in his capacity as sentencing council chair, and "nothing more"

Labour MP to ask police to investigate James Murdoch

Labour MP Tom Watson says he will ask the police to investigate evidence given by News International chairman James Murdoch after it was called into question by two former executives.

Mr Murdoch told the culture committee he had not been "aware" of an email suggesting the practice went wider than a "rogue" News of the World reporter.
But ex-NoW editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone said they told him.
Mr Murdoch later said he "stands by his testimony" to the committee on Tuesday.
Mr Watson said he was going to formally bring it to the attention of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading Operating Weeting, the investigation into phone hacking.
He told the BBC: "This is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking."
Mr Watson said: "If their statement is accurate it shows James Murdoch had knowledge that others were involved in hacking as early as 2008, it shows he failed to act to discipline staff or initiate an internal investigation, which undermines Rupert Murdoch's evidence to our committee that the company had a zero tolerance to wrongdoing."
The West Bromwich East MP added: "More importantly it shows he not only failed to report a crime to the police but because there was a confidentiality clause involved in the settlement it means that he bought the silence of Gordon Taylor and that could mean he is facing investigation for perverting the course of justice."
He said: "There is only going to be one person who is accurate. Either James Murdoch, who to be fair to him is standing by his version of events, or Colin Myler and Tom Crone."
"Myler and Crone will have to answer for themselves. They are clearly concerned that they have effectively been hung out to dry by James Murdoch in the evidence session earlier in the week."
At the committee hearing on Tuesday, Labour's Tom Watson asked Mr Murdoch: "When you signed off the Taylor payment, did you see or were you made aware of the full Neville email, the transcript of the hacked voicemail messages?"
Mr Murdoch replied: "No, I was not aware of that at the time".
He went on: "There was every reason to settle the case, given the likelihood of losing the case and given the damages - we had received counsel - that would be levied."
In their statement issued on Thursday Mr Myler and Crone said: "Just by way of clarification relating to Tuesday's CMS select committee hearing, we would like to point out that James Murdoch's recollection of what he was told when agreeing to settle the Gordon Taylor litigation was mistaken.
"In fact, we did inform him of the 'for Neville' email which had been produced to us by Gordon Taylor's lawyers."
In a statement issued by News Corporation, James Murdoch said: "I stand by my testimony to the select committee."
Meanwhile, the BBC has learned the FBI plans to contact actor Jude Law following claims his mobile phone was hacked during a visit to the US.
It is alleged a story published by the News of the World in 2003 was based on information obtained from his voicemail which, if proved, could lead to charges in the US because his phone would have been operating on a US network. News International denies the claims.

Phone hacking: Scotland Yard boosts probe team

 

Police said they had experienced a surge of inquiries over the past fortnight

The police team investigating phone hacking has been boosted from 45 to 60 officers, Scotland Yard has said.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said the move came after a "significant increase in the workload" over the past fortnight.
Meanwhile, the investigation into alleged misconduct by newspapers may be spreading beyond News International.
Police have asked for files of an earlier inquiry into the use of private investigators, the BBC has learned.
According to BBC Radio 4's The Report, the files from Operation Motorman, which was run by the Information Commissioner's Office in 2003, were requested three months ago.
They contain 4,000 requests from 300 journalists and 31 publications for confidential information from a private investigator, which in many cases had been obtained illegally.
The investigation found the Daily Mail had made the most requests, followed by the Sunday People and the Daily Mirror.
The Daily Mail said the information obtained may have been for reasons of public interest, and Trinity Mirror Group said its journalists worked within the law and the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct.
'12,000 victims' On the hacking probe known as Operation Weeting, Ms Akers said there had been a "surge of enquiries and requests for assistance from the public and solicitors.

"I have said all along that I would keep the resources under review and this has led to the increase. Similarly, if the demand decreases, I will release officers back to other duties."

The expansion in officer numbers comes after a Commons home affairs committee report praised Ms Akers' decision that all potential victims of phone hacking by the News of the World should be contacted.
But the MPs said they were "alarmed" only 170 people had so far been informed and noted that "up to 12,800 people may have been affected".
They warned that if the process dragged on it would "seriously delay" the start of Lord Justice Leveson's public inquiry announced by Prime Minister David Cameron.
After Ms Akers' announcement, home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "This is excellent news. The extra resources will assist to help move things along much more quickly."
'Serious offences' Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the public's faith in institutions like the police had been "shaken" by the phone-hacking scandal.
He said people's "low and cynical" opinion of politics had probably become lower still as a result of the affair and there was now an opportunity to clean up the "murky" practices and relationships that had taken root.
Innocent members of the public and their families had their privacy "abused in an outrageous way", he added.
In other developments, it emerged that former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was only given mid-level security clearance when he went to work as the prime minister's communications director in May last year.
A Cabinet Office source confirmed to the BBC that he was subject to the "security check" level but not the more rigorous "developed vetting" level.
Mr Cameron told the Commons on Wednesday that Mr Coulson was not able to see the government's most secret documents.
Elsewhere, the legal firm that represented News of the World owners News International (NI) has been given permission by the newspaper group to answer questions from the police and MPs.
Harbottle & Lewis is said to have received e-mails from the company four years ago which the legal firm concluded did not reveal reasonable grounds for believing the hacking went beyond the News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman.

Position reversed But Jeremy Hunt said afterwards that "the discussions the prime minister had on the BSkyB deal were irrelevant" because he, as culture secretary, was responsible for making the decision, prompting the Labour attack.
Mr Hunt's aides later said he had been talking about discussions in general, rather than specific discussions with NI executives.
Conservative deputy chairman Michael Fallon dismissed what he called petty point-scoring by saying former NI executive Rebekah Brooks and Mr Cameron were both clear no inappropriate discussions had taken place.
During his Commons statement, Mr Cameron told MPs that "with hindsight" he would not have hired Mr Coulson.
Labour MP Nick Raynsford said that when Mr Coulson was still working at Downing Street, the cabinet secretary had been alerted to evidence of illegal phone hacking, covert surveillance and hostile media briefing against a senior government official - a claim the cabinet secretary denied.
But the Cabinet Office later completely reversed its position, conceding that a meeting on the matter did take place last summer.

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.

Murdoch 'not to blame' for scandal

James Murdoch (left), interrupts his son James to address the MPs

Rupert Murdoch has denied that he is ultimately responsible for the phone-hacking "fiasco".
Facing intense questioning alongside his son James from MPs examining the crisis that has rocked British journalism, Mr Murdoch Snr was asked by Jim Sheridan MP who the blame lies with.
The News Corp boss responded: "The people that I trusted and then, maybe, the people they trusted."
Tom Watson MP asked Mr Murdoch when he became aware that criminality was "endemic" at the News of the World.
"Endemic is a very hard, a very wide ranging word," he replied. "That that has been disclosed I became aware of as it became apparent."
He added that he was "absolutely shocked, appalled and ashamed" when he heard about the Milly Dowler case "only two weeks ago".
Asked by Mr Watson whether he had been "misled" by senior employees, Rupert Murdoch replied: "Clearly."
Mr Watson pointed out that former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks admitted in 2003 that police were paid for information. Mr Murdoch Snr said: "I am now aware of that, I was not aware at the time. I'm also aware that she amended that considerably very quickly afterwards."
James Murdoch, News Corp's deputy chief operating officer, opened his evidence by saying how sorry he and his father are to the victims of hacking.
"It is a matter of great regret of mine, my father's and everyone at News Corporation. These actions do not live up to the standards our company aspires to everywhere around the world," he said.

Rebekah Brooks: from secretary to controversy

A profile of Rekebah Brooks, who has resigned as chief executive of News International over the phone hacking scandal.

People who encounter Rebekah Brooks, nee Wade, tend to recall two things: her mane of red hair and her "terrifying" ambition. But it seems she may end up best remembered for claims that News of the World journalists hacked into the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler when Brooks was editor in 2002.
Brooks ended up chief executive of News International, the company that runs Rupert Murdoch's British papers, having joined the organisation as a secretary in 1989.
She grew up in Daresbury, Cheshire. According to a 2003 BBC profile, she was only 14, attending Appleton Hall County Grammar School, when she decided that she would become a journalist.
In 1998, at the age of 30, she succeeded in becoming deputy editor of the Sun. At that time she was known for her feminism, apparently trying on several occasions to persuade editor David Yelland to scrap the paper's famous Page 3 topless photos.
She was made editor of the News of the World - the Sun's sister Sunday paper – in 2000 and stayed in the role until 2003 before returning to edit the Sun. Her feminist sympathies seemed to have waned. On her first day as editor Page 3 showed a nubile young woman as usual – named in the picture caption 'Rebekah from Wapping'.
It was in those intervening three years at the NotW that Brooks became well-known to the point of infamy.
In 2002, her marriage to EastEnders actor Ross Kemp elevated her to the position of gossip-column fodder, with attention paid to her friendship with Tony and Cherie Blair (she is now closer to David Cameron).
As NoW editor, she took the decision to 'name and shame' known sex-offenders, publishing their photos and names in the paper. She argued that it was to protect the children. Sales soared, but Brooks was accused of driving paedophiles underground and whipping up moby fury which culminated in a paediatrician having her house vandalised.
In November 2005, Brooks missed her scheduled appearance at the Woman of the Year awards because she was being held in a police cell, arrested after an alleged assault on her husband. Charges were dropped and she kept her job.
Brooks, then Wade, divorced Ross Kemp in 2009 and married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks, taking his surname.
But what is Brooks actually like? What drives her? One former Downing Street apparatchik told The First Post about an encounter with her at a fringe event at a Labour Party conference several years ago that offers an intriguing insight.
"A group of politicians were assailed by various families of victims of horrific crimes sitting in the front row about not being tough enough [on crime]. The whole thing had been orchestrated by Rebekah, who sat opposite me towards the back.
"The place was full of Sun hacks, and the atmosphere was febrile from the off. I'll never forget the way she strained forward in her chair as the fireworks went off, and the very strange light in her eyes."