Tom Watson’s letter to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson

Sir Paul Stephenson

Commissioner

Metropolitan Police Service

New Scotland Yard

Broadway

London

SW1H 0BG

03 September 2010

Dear Mr Stephenson,

I write as a Member of Parliament, a former cabinet office minister and a member of the culture, media and sport select committee which took evidence last year from Andy Coulson and Les Hinton about the News of the World’s illegal phone hacking operations.

The Metropolitan Police’s historic and continued mishandling of this affair is bringing your force, and hence our democracy, into disrepute.

Former assistant commissioner Brian Paddick has requested a judicial review of the Metropolitan Police’s investigation (or lack of it – we do not know) into his phone being hacked by newspapers while he was a serving officer. This is extraordinary.

Indeed, it would appear that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) may have deliberately withheld from this serving senior officer the information that his phone had been hacked. Please confirm whether this is true.

The phone of a serving Metropolitan Police commissioner was also on a list of numbers intended to be hacked by newspapers. It has been reported that an MPS investigation established that his phone had not been hacked. Please confirm whether this is true.

If it is, please confirm whether the phone of every other name on any list found of numbers intended to be hacked was also investigated.

If not, please confirm who decided, according to what criteria and on what authority which names to investigate and which to ignore.

Today it has emerged that another senior MPS officer, Michael Fuller, was also on Glen Mulcaire’s list. Please confirm how many MPS officers were on lists of names to be illegally hacked, which were investigated and which were notified.

Much anger and concern centres on your force’s failure to inform people that their names had been found on these lists. Please confirm exactly how many names were on Mulcaire’s and any other lists.

Many Members of Parliament were on these lists. The Metropolitan Police has strongly implied that all Members of Parliament so targeted had been informed. This was not true. Please confirm how many Members of Parliament were on the lists.

Please confirm who decided which Members of Parliament to notify, according to what criteria and on what authority.

Please confirm, in all other cases, who selected which victims should be notified, on what criteria, on what authority and who else had any requisite knowledge?

Please confirm who went to seize the materials, where are these materials stored, and what processes do the Met go through when answering letters and enquiries about these materials?

The New York Times allege key evidence was withheld from the Crown Prosecutions Service. Please confirm that all evidence was provided to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Your conduct of this matter is being scrutinised all over the world. So far, it is bringing shame – as has News International – on our country.

I await your early response.

Yours sincerely

Tom Watson

Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East


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3 Responses to “Tom Watson’s letter to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson”

  1. Tom Goode says:

    Good on you, please publish any response.
    It worries me what is happennign at the moment with the tories seeking to keep the BBC quiet over the extend of their cuts and how Andy Coulson doesn’t seem to be under greater scrutiny.
    Oh boyo, we are in for a tough few years!

  2. Pete says:

    It would be interesting to know why the MPS has not arrested or prosecuted anyone for the BT/Phorm affair, that involved intercepting the communications of 200,000 UK internet users and the companies that served them, using Russian supplied spyware technology.

    Or why they have yet taken no action over the Google/Streetview affair.

    Or why they have not arrested anyone over TalkTalk’s use of Chinese suplied surveillance equipment to covertly gather communications content from UK customers and business.

    The failure of the Police to enforce any of the laws which are supposed to protect the privacy/security/integrity of telecommunications in this country is a complete scandal.

  3. WOW.

    Even though it appears to have been going on for years, you’ve all got tetchy over hacked mobile phone calls now Labour isn’t governing the UK and can point the finger of responsibility elsewhere.

    Now there’s a word that conjures up all sorts of expectation; governing. Labour was not ever fit for purpose back when Prezza’s phone was supposedly hacked. Labour is ironically not able to find a purposeful leader either. By purposeful I mean mentally substantial & demonstrably capable.

    The comment from Pete / September 3, 2010 at 3:22 pm / unwittingly points the finger of lameness for – privacy / security / integrity of telecommunications in this country – right back at the past Labour Government.

    Own goal by the Laborious party.

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