MPs on the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee are writing to James Murdoch, ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper’s ex-legal manager Tom Crone.
This came after the committee voted against a request by Labour MP Tom Watson, who had wanted the committee recalled and Murdoch and the two ex-NoW executives to appear before MPs in person.
This came after the committee voted against a request by Labour MP Tom Watson, who had wanted the committee recalled and Murdoch and the two ex-NoW executives to appear before MPs in person.<br />
However, committee chairman John Whittingdale said it was highly likely James Murdoch would be called before the committee again.<br />
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The Tory MP said: ‘I think the chances are that we will reissue to take oral evidence but before doing so I want to get the answers to the detailed questions that we have.’<br />
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Further written evidence has to be provided by August 11. The committee will then decide which witnesses to recall.<br />
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The MPs will also write to law firm Harbottle & Lewis, who investigated the phone hacking claims on behalf of News International, to see whether it can provide further evidence about the extent of phone-hacking, now that News International has relaxed the confidentiality clauses in its contract.<br />
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Whittingdale said: ‘We have considered the evidence we received last week from Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, and subsequent statements by certain individuals have raised questions about some of the evidence we have received.<br />
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‘As a result of that, we are going to write to ask for further details from various areas where evidence is disputed.<br />
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‘We are writing to Colin Myler, Tom Crone and John Chapman. We are also writing to James Murdoch to follow up on a number of questions on which he promised us further information last week.’ <br />
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Myners and Crone dispute James Murdoch’s claim to have been unaware of a key email suggesting hacking was widespread.<br />
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Earlier this month, James Murdoch told the committee that he was not aware of the ‘for Neville’ email when he approved an out-of-court settlement with Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor.<br />
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The two former NoW executives later released a statement saying they did inform him of the email.<br />
The email in question was marked ‘for Neville’ and is said to have implied the NoW’s chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, who is currently on bail, was also implicated in malpractices.<br />
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Murdoch has said he ‘stands by his testimony’ to the committee.<br />
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All this came after it emerged that police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, alleged to relate to a phone given to Payne by the NoW’s then-editor Rebekah Brooks.<br />
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In a statement, Payne’s charity, Phoenix Chief Advocates, said she was ‘absolutely devastated’ by the news.<br />
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• Christopher Jefferies, the landlord of murdered Bristol architect Jo Yeates, yesterday accepted ‘substantial damages’ over libel claims from eight newspapers – the Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Mail, the Daily Record, the Daily Express, the Daily Star and the Scotsman.<br />
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Jefferies was suing the papers over articles published when he was arrested on suspicion of her murder last December.<br />
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His lawyer, Louis Charalambous, said: ‘Christopher Jefferies is the latest victim of the regular witch-hunts and character assassinations conducted by the worst elements of the British tabloid media.’<br />
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He accepted an undisclosed sum and public apology, his lawyer added.
