A NORTH East MP last night said he believed his phones may have been hacked as he welcomed news that the BSkyB had been scrapped.
Speaking to The Journal, Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery said he suspected that both his mobile and landline phones might have been illegally accessed.
The former president of the NUM also welcomed further details of an inquiry into the phone hacking scandal and news that media mogul Rupert Murdoch had withdrawn his bid for broadcaster BskyB.
“I believe that my phones have been hacked,” he said. “I believe as president of the NUM and through my political career, there is a huge potential that my phones will have been hacked – both at home and my mobile phone.
“And at this time, I am seeking legal advice to see whether I can qualify whether that has happened or not,” said the Labour MP.
Referring to Mr Murdoch’s withdrawal of his bid for BskyB, Mr Lavery said: “I am absolutely delighted. But at the end of the day we shouldn’t have being waiting for Murdoch to withdraw the bid.”
He also claimed David Cameron had failed to show real leadership over the crisis and been forced into holding an inquiry into phone hacking.
“He has had his armed twisted. He wouldn't have agreed to it. So good on Ed Miliband, good on [Labour MP] Tom Watson and the others for putting this at the top of the political agenda where it should have been. And I believe this is the tip of the iceberg,” said Mr Lavery.
In a further development, Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith met the Prime Minister on Tuesday to discuss the format of the inquiry in his role as chairman of the Commons justice committee – along with his counterparts on the Home Affairs and Culture committees.
He stressed that the victims of phone hacking had already suffered from crimes – and that their interests should be at the forefront of the inquiry.
It was also important that nothing got in the way of prosecuting criminal offences, said Sir Alan.
And he expressed confidence in the judge leading the inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson. As chairman of the Sentencing Council, he regularly attends the justice committee. “He is very capable and I am sure he will do a good job,” said the senior Lib Dem. He added his party had long campaigned for an investigation in Mr Murdoch’s media empire and demanded changes to the law to stop such an “accumulation of power”, adding the decision to withdraw the BskyB bid as “inevitable”.
“At last something is happening, but only after a lot of people have been victims of disgraceful behaviour,” said Sir Alan. His comments came as Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell wrote on Twitter that Mr Murdoch had withdrawn his BskyB bid “thanks to immense public pressure powerfully led and vocalised” by Labour leader Ed Miliband and Shadow Culture Secretary Ivan Lewis.
