Andy Coulson resigns from No 10
Andy Coulson, David Cameron's director of communications, has quit in the wake of the latest phone-hacking revelations.
Full statement by Andy Coulson
Full statement by David Cameron
Read a summary of events so far
2.51pm: Nick Davies, the reporter who has led the Guardian's coverage of the phone-hacking story, has been in touch with his view: "This is hugely significant but it's not the end of the story. There's a whole pig sty of lies still to be cleaned up."
2.34pm: Edmondson has been on to his lawyers. They've sent out a statement in which they say any suggestion that Coulson resigned becasue Edmondson "was about to turn Coulson in" is wrong. Any such allegation would be "entirely false and defamatory and we have instructions to take appropriate action in relation to that statement and any repetition of it".
Just as well I haven't made any such allegation then. Happy to point out that any such allegation would be wrong, though.
2.28pm: Our head of media, Dan Sabbagh, has sent me an analysis of today's events and their implications. He notes that Les Hinton, the executive chairman running News Corp's British newspapers at the time covered by the hacking allegations, told MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee that phone hacking was limited to one rogue reporter. "There was never any evidence delivered to me that suggested that the conduct of Clive Goodman spread beyond him," Hinton said. Dan goes on:
Almost 18 months on, there is little prospect of the story going away, even with Coulson's resignation. News Corp's problem is the string of celebrity legal case and the threat of disaffected! News of the World journalists going public with more revelations.
There is intense speculation that Ian Edmondson, the suspended assistant editor (news), is considering speaking out. Lawyers and publicists say that Edmondson a man known for a volatile temperament is assessing his options as he faces the risk of being sued in the civil courts.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, lawyers acting for various high profile litigants are gradually teasing more evidence out of the Metropolitan Police. The Met is sitting on the notebooks, call records and other information seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator employed by the News of the World, in 2006 as part of their enquiry into phone hacking at Buckingham Palace.
So far only a small amount of information has come into the public domain, in cases brought by actress Sienna Miller and sports agent Sky Andrew and football commentator Andy Gray. But lawyers hope that the evidence that is released by the Met will allow them to demonstrate that the use of phone hacking went further than the actions of a single "rogue reporter" the royal editor Clive Goodman who was jailed for four months for his part in asking Mulcaire to hack into phones belonging to aides of Prince William and Harry.
It was Miller's case, which came into the public domain with a high court filing in December, that triggered the suspension of Ian Edmondson. Miller's lawyers noted that Mulcaire had a habit of writing the first name of the person who instructed him in the top left corner of his notes and where the name Ian appeared.
On Monday, Mulcaire said that he was instructed by Edmondson to target the phone of Sky Andrew. On Tuesday of this week, lawyers acting for Gray produced phone bills that showed that Glenn Mulcaire had called Andy Gray's mobile on at least a dozen occasions over 18 months each time, allegedly, to hack into the voice mail.
With cases from the likes of Chris Tarrant and Kieren Fallon due to come and others including publicist Nic! ola Phil lips already well advanced, the reality is that the News of the World and its publisher, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, face a continuing stream of disclosures.
2.21pm: David Cameron has been speaking on camera about the loss of Coulson, saying he was "punished for the same offence twice". Here's a clip courtesy of Channel 4 News.
2.12pm: In the comments, @drygoni reminds me of Paul Merton's analysis of Coulson's position on Have I Got News For You.
As Paul Merton said on HIGNFY, "He's either a completely incompetent editor who doesn't know what his employess are doing, or.... he isn't."
2.07pm: The political commentator Peter Oborne, not exactly a leftie, has written a piece on the Telegraph website that is worth a read. He slams Cameron's judgment, and says Coulson's resignation is "only the beginning and not the end of the News of the World phone hacking scandal". He goes on to list seven questions that needed answers, the first of which is this:
The News of the World claim, endorsed by Coulson himself, that the NoW Royal Correspondent Clive Goodman was just a "rogue reporter" has been exploded: hence (I assume) Coulson's decision to quit Downing Street. Quite right too: the story was risible and false. But exactly how extensive was the phone hacking scandal during the time Coulson was editor of the News of the World between 2003 and 2007? The evidence available so far suggests that thousands of people may have been hacked. Who were they? Why were they not informed at the time of the original police investigation?
The other six are just as apposite and are worth a read.
2.00pm: Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, who has had a bit of a resignation isssue of his own to deal with in the past few days, has waded (perhaps unwisely) into this one. He said there had been "real questions" about Coulson's ability to do his job with the "clo! ud" of a llegations hanging over him.
He's now done the right thing. I think there are questions about David Cameron's judgment about hanging on to him as long as he did.
1.55pm: The News of the World says its suspended assistant editor has not quit. "Ian Edmondson has not resigned from the News of the World," it said.
1.52pm: Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief of Guardian News and Media, which publishes the Guardian, has issued a statement.
This is the result of first class investigative reporting by one Guardian reporter, Nick Davies, sustained over a very long period of time. From the moment he revealed the secret payout to Gordon Taylor in July 2009 it was obvious that Andy Coulson's position was untenable. But this is not the end of the story by any means. There are many outstanding legal actions, and uncomfortable questions for others, including the police.
1.37pm: My colleague on the media desk, James Robinson, has just rung up Ian Edmondson he's the senior News of the World executive who was suspended last month over the phone-hacking allegations. We've heard rumours that he has resigned, too. Here's a transcript of the conversation. Make of it what you will.
IE: "Hello."
JR: "Is this Ian Edmondson?"
IE: "Who is this?"
JR: "It's James Robinson from the Guardian."
IE: "Have you got [News of the World press officer] Hayley Barlow's number?"
JR: "Have you resigned, Ian?"
(silence)
JR: "Can you tell me off the record if you've resigned?"
(silence)
JR: Are you still there, Ian?
(silence)
JR: "You're not taping this call, are you?"
Edmondson hangs up.
1.21pm: Perhaps we should review Coulson's evidence to MPs in July 2009. He was giving evidence to the culture, media and sport select committee alongside the then managing editor of the News of the World, Stuart Kuttner. This is an extract from the Guardian report of! the pro ceedings:
"Things went badly wrong under my editorship of the News of the World, I deeply regret it," Coulson told MPs, who are holding an inquiry into privacy, press standards and libel, focusing today on phone hacking at the News International tabloid.
"When I resigned I gave up a 20-year career with News International and everything that I had worked towards since I was 18. I have to accept that mistakes were made and I have to accept that the system could have been better," he said.
Coulson added that the paper's 100,000-a-year contract with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire was for legitimate work and legally recognised as such. But he said that Goodman's extra cash payments to Mulcaire were unknown to him.
Mulcaire was jailed for six months in January 2007 after being found guilty of hacking into phone messages.
"Goodman deceived the managing editor's office and deceived me," Coulson told MPs today.
His evidence was clear and unequivocal: he knew nothing about phone-hacking. Contrast that with his evidence to the Sheridan case last month: it seems to me that he picked a much more careful line. (12.44pm).
1.15pm: The chancellor, George Osborne, has been talking to TV reporters about the Coulson resignation. He said of Coulson: "He's going because he feels personally that the distraction caused by his time at the News of the World makes it difficult to do his current job at Number 10." He refuses to answer a question about whether it was right to appoint Coulson in the first place. Osborne, of course, was a big supporter of the appointment.
1.13pm: John Prescott, former deputy leader of the Labour party, who believes his phone was hacked, has just been on the World at One on BBC Radio 4. He is scathing about News International's insistence for so long that only one reporter, Clive Goodman, was involved in subterfuge. "It's quite clear it wasn't! just a rogue reporter. This is a whole messy affair," Prescott said.
1.10pm: If Coulson thought his announcement would be buried by Tony Blair's second appearance before the Iraq war inquiry, he was wrong. The Coulson story is the lead story on all the major UK news outlets.
1.00pm: Here's a summary of events in a fast-moving news day.
Andy Coulson has resigned as director of communications at Downing Street. The former News of the World editor said "continued coverage" of the phone-hacking scandal over which he quit in 2007 made it "difficult for me to give the 110% needed in this role". He added: "When the spokesman needs a spokesman, it's time to move on."
Questions have been raised about the judgment of David Cameron, the prime minister, who appointed Coulson knowing the controversy surrounding his editorship of the News of the World. Cameron said of Coulson: "He has been a brilliant member of my team and has thrown himself at the job with skill and dedication."
It is understood that Coulson told Cameron of his decision on Wednesday night. Some commentators have questioned the decision to announce his departure today as Tony Blair was giving evidence to the Iraq war inquiry.
The MP who triggered the latest Commons inquiry into phone hacking called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation. Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, said: "I hope now finally that the police will be able to conduct the full, transparent, and thorough inquiry into phone hacking that we are still waiting for and that the murky truth will come to light."
12.52pm: The Lib Dems, coalition partners to the Tories, have issued a statement. It's pretty bland.
Andy Coulson played a crucial role with great professionalism in successfully establishing the coalition government.
He's now taken a personal decision that the focus on him was making it hard to do his job and we wish him well for the future.
12.48pm: Back to ! Guto Har i, tipped as a potential successor to Coulson [12.41pm]. Hlne Mulholland covers the City Hall beat for the Guardian, where Hari is head of external affairs for London mayor Boris Johnson. She says Harri is an "effective operator" but wonders whether he would be a suitable appointment, given the tensions between Johnson and Cameron.
The poaching of one of Johnson's most valuable aides would do little to improve relations.
Johnson has also vocally opposed certain coalition policies in the past few months, notably his outspoken remarks on housing benefits cuts last autumn, and Harri's loyalty to Johnson could be seen as a handicap if working to the Tory prime minister under attack from the Tory mayor.
If Cameron can put that to one side, Harri will have to weigh up how far his loyalty to Johnson goes. The Tory mayor is heading towards the mayoral election in 2012 against his arch rival, Ken Livingstone. Johnson has already sent a clear signal to team Cameron about "kidnapping" his staff.
Amid rumours in 2009 that the Tory party had its sights on some of his aides, Johnson mounedt a "Stalingrad-like resistance" against any attempts to poach members of his top team at City Hall ahead of the next general election. It is unlikely his views will have changed.
12.44pm: Our Scotland correspondent, Severin Carrell, reminds us of Coulson's evidence in the Sheridan perjury trial last month. Coulson gave evidence over two days as a defence witness. It was the first and only time that Coulson has been questioned under oath on the hacking scandal. Sev writes:
Asked about Glenn Mulcaire's repeated hacking of private mobile phone messages for the NoW, Coulson said: "I never knew him as an individual, I never met him, I never spoke to him, I never heard his name until the Clive Go! odman af fair started. But I knew his consultancy was used in an entirely legitimate way during my time as editor."
Sheridan asked him about a House of Commons committee report which stated that the NoW "turned a blind eye" and "at worst actively condoned" bugging and hacking in the newsroom.
Coulson replied: "I don't accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the NoW. There was a very unfortunate, to put it mildly, case involving Clive Goodman. No-one was more sorry about it than me; that's why I resigned."
12.40pm: Who will replace Coulson as director of communications at No 10? Many are tipping Guto Harri, former BBC political correspondent and now the spokesman for mayor of London Boris Johnson. I've also seen George Pascoe-Watson, former political editor of the Sun, named. But surely that would be one ex-Murdoch hack too many?
12.33pm: The Guardian's assistant editor and former political editor, Michael White, has just filed an analysis, which we're preparing for publication now. But here are the key passages:
The suspension of NoW news editor, Ian Edmondson, was probably the tipping point. As the BBC's Nick Robinson has been saying on air Coulson called to give evidence in Tommy Sheridan's Scottish perjury trial last month has had to spend more time on his lawyers and felt it was getting in the way of his day job. He's right.
Mike goes on to consider why prime ministers seem to need tabloid journalists to advise them:
How awful that leaders need to employ red top tabloid rascals like Coulson or Alastair Campbell, people ask? Alas it's a wicked world out there. Politicians need to know what key red-top voters think about issues. They also need to keep red-top owners and editors sweet. Ed Miliband has hired Bob Roberts from the Mirror and Tom Baldwin from the Times.
Sorry about that, but it's sensible. Not many people are tough enough to face the heat and pressure and street smart enough to say " sorry, that policy won't fly." Cameron had the sense to mak! e a civi l servant Steve Field from the Treasury his official spokesman.
12.19pm: Labour MP Tom Watson, who has been pursuing the allegations against Coulson and the News of the World, accused him of sneaking out the statement on a busy news day, and said the resignation raised "serious questions" about the prime minister's judgment.
This is the second job that Andy Coulson has resigned from for something he claims to know nothing about.
His departure creates serious questions over the Prime Minister's judgment and points to the need for a deeper investigation into the affairs of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
It's a mark of the man that he would sneak out a statement on a Friday morning on a busy news day.
Spin and obfuscation is all we get from Downing Street - we need to get to the truth.
12.18pm: New readers (and some older ones) start here.
Stories about the "dark arts" employed by some reporters in Fleet Street, particularly on the tabloids but not exclusively, circulated in the early 2000s. I was media correspondent then, and I heard the same rumours as everyone else. Publicist contacts of mine suspected their celebrity clients' voicemails were being hacked into, but could not prove anything.
In December 2005, aides at Buckingham Palace suspected interference with voicemail of Prince William and royal staff. Their suspicions were raised by certain stories in the papers, and called in Scotland Yard. An investigation was launched that led to the jailing of News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glen Mulcaire in 2007. Andy Coulson resigned as editor, claiming to have known nothing.
David Cameron, then leader of the opposition, appointed Coulson as a media adviser in June 2007. Eyebrows were raised, given the circumstances of Coulson's resignation, but Cameron insisted that everyone deserved a second chance.
The Guardian revealed in July 2009 that News International! paid Go rdon Taylor, whose phone was also hacked, to drop legal action that would have named other News of the World journalists.
In September 2009 the story widened when Scotland Yard said it found suspected phone hacking victims in government, military and police as well as the royal household. In February last year the Commons media select committee finds it "inconceivable" that Goodman acted alone. Through 2010, more victims revealed they had accepted payments from NI to drop legal actions, including celebrity PR Max Clifford.
Ian Edmondson, no 3 at the News of the World, was suspended in December 2010. Sienna Miller's lawyers had announced they found new evidence in the material seized by Scotland Yard in August 2006.
12.06pm: The New York Times has produced a great interactive of the phone-hacking scandal.
12.05pm: My colleagues on the media desk have sent me this quote from Mark Lewis, the laywer representing Chris Tarrant, jockey Kieren Fallon and publicist Nicola Phillips in their cases against the News of the World. He said:
It is curious that he has resigned - because nothing is happening in the legal cases today, except for the fact that the 'rogue reporter' defence given by the News of the World is unravelling.
Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian's head of media, tells me that News of the World sources saying the paper knew nothing about Coulson decision today. It came as a surprise and there is no formal comment from the paper at this point.
12.04pm: This tweet from Piers Morgan, another editor who had to quit (the Mirror) amid scandal, in this case the alleged doctoring of photographs showing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers.
Very sad to hear news about Andy Coulson - good man, good friend. How many times does @guardian want people to quit over same thing?
12.02pm: In the comments @londone asks "where ! are the questions about Cameron's judgement and leadership qualities" that I posed about Ed Miliband in my live blog of the Alan Johnson resignation last night. See the previous post, @londone I think the story will definitely pile the heat on Cameron now.
My colleague Toby Helm, political editor of the Observer, says the focus now moves to questions over David Cameron's judgement. This is what he has just posted on Twitter:
Initial thoughts on coulson. Inevtable for months. Good day to bury it with Johnson and Blair. But dent to cameron rep for judgment. Game on
11.56am: A colleague has called the press office at Scotland Yard, who say that they are not aware of any plans to question Coulson further.
11.54am: Coulson has always maintained that he did not know that phone hacking was taking place when he was editor of the News of the World. Coulson has not moved from that position in his statement today.
11.51am: This is the full statement issued by Andy Coulson today:
I can today confirm that I've resigned as Downing Street director of communications. It's been a privilege and an honour to work for David Cameron for three-and-a-half years.
I'm extremely proud of the part I've played in helping him reach No 10 and during the coalition's first nine months.
Nothing is more important than the Government's task of getting this country back on its feet.
Unfortunately, continued coverage of events connected to my old job at the News of the World has made it difficult for me to give the 110% needed in this role.
I stand by what I've said about those events but when the spokesman needs a spokesman, it's time to move on.
I'll leave within the next few weeks and will do so wishing the Prime Minister, his family, and his brilliant and dedicated team the very best for what I'm sure will be a long and successful future in Government.
11.51am: Here's the full statement from David Cameron:
I am very sorry that Andy Coulson has decided to resign as my Director of Communications, although I understand that the continuing pressures on him and his family mean that he feels compelled to do so. Andy has told me that the focus on him was impeding his ability to do his job and was starting to prove a distraction for the Government.
During his time working for me, Andy has carried out his role with complete professionalism. He has been a brilliant member of my team and has thrown himself at the job with skill and dedication. He can be extremely proud of the role he has played, including for the last eight months in Government.
I wish Andy all the very best for his future, which I am certain will be a successful one.
11.48am: This is the second time Coulson has lost a high-profile job over the phone-hacking scandal. He quit as editor of the News of the World in January 2007 when Clive Goodman was jailed. Until now, the prime minister, David Cameron, had maintained Coulson "deserved a second chance".
11.46am: The phone hacking story had intensified in recent weeks. Ian Edmonston, the assistant editor (news) at the News of the World, a Coulson appointee, was suspended just before Christmas after it emerged in court documents that his name apperaed on notes made by Glen Mulcaire, a private investigator who hacked into phones on behalf of the News of the World journalist Clive Goodman.
11.44am: Our political correspondent Hlne Mulholland has been on to the Labour party: they say they "won't be commenting" on the story. I wonder how long that line will hold.
11.38am: Coulson was fed up with the "continual focus and distraction," says Channel 4 News political correspondent Cathy Newman on Twitter. He told the prime minister of his decision on Wednesday evening, she says.
11.37am: Andy Coulson has resigned, it has been confirmed.
11.32am: Our political editor, Patrick Wintour, has just filed this:
Andy Coulson, the government's director o! f commun ications, is to make a personal statement later about his future.
Number 10 did not confirm whether he was about to resign, but would not say whether he had been interviewed by the police in connection with claims that he had overseen a culture of phone hacking whilst editor of the News of the World.
Coulson has always argued that he was not aware of the phone hacking, but David Cameron has admitted this week that Coulson was embarrassed by the impact the police investigation was having on the government.
Asked if there was to be a new appointment at Number 10, the prime minister's spokesman said: "One step at a time".
11.25am: Andy Coulson, the the director of communications at No 10, is to make a "personal statement". He has been under pressure in recent months over the phone-hacking scandal, with a slew of revelations in a number of civil court cases that appeared to bring the scandal closer to his door.
This is what the Press Association has just reported:
The Prime Minister's communications chief Andy Coulson is expected to issue a personal statement today.
Mr Coulson has been under intense pressure to step down over allegations of phone-hacking by the News of the World when he was the newspaper's editor.
A No 10 spokeswoman told reporters at a regular briefing that a statement was being prepared.
"The Prime Minister has had full confidence in Mr Coulson and still does," she said.
The question now is what Coulson has decided to do.
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