Phone Hacking Scandal Widens: News International Targeted Gordon Brown, BSkyB Bid Delayed (LIVE UPDATES)
First Posted: 7/11/11 10:52 AM ET Updated: 7/11/11 11:55 AM ET
The phone hacking scandal widened on Monday, as new reports emerged that papers beyond the News of the World were also involved in criminal behavior. In addition, Rupert Murdoch's bid to take over BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, looked to be in serious peril.
Multiple outlets reported that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to claim that several News International papers illegally obtained his personal details.
According to The Guardian, The Independent and the BBC, investigators working for the News of the World, The Sun and The Sunday Times obtained information about Brown's family, his legal and his medical records. This marks the first time that any allegations about News International have targeted papers outside the News of the World.
News Corp apparently gave in to public pressure as well, issuing a statement asking for its bid to take over BSkyB to be referred to the Competition Commission and dropping its agreement to sell of Sky News as part of the bid. This means that any takeover will, at the very least, be delayed as regulators examine the "fitness" of News Corp to take over BSkyB.
Jeremy Hunt, the minister responsible for the handling of the bid, announced in the House of Commons on Monday that he will agree to this request.
All in all, the scandal surrounding Murdoch's British media empire has not lessened, even after the paper at the center of the controversy was closed for good.
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In addition to all of the revelations on Monday, Murdoch and his empire were attacked from all sides. Most notably the Deputy Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, called on News Corp. to "do the decent and sensible thing" and drop its bid for the full takeover of BSkyB, the lucrative satellite broadcaster. (Murdoch already owns 39 percent of the company.) Clegg's intervention makes him the most senior figure in government so far to explicitly oppose the deal, which looked set to sail through until the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World escalated last week.
Ed Miliband, the leader of the opposition Labour party, also ramped up his attacks on Murdoch. Speaking at a press conference, he called the BSkyB bid "untenable." Miliband is trying to force a vote on the takeover in the House of Commons.
In addition, new revelations about the criminal behavior inside the News of the World continued to be unearthed. Among the latest details:
--The BBC reported that emails written in 2007 show that the News Of The World was paying police guarding the royal family for information--but that nobody was alerted about this evidence of corruption. BBC reporter Robert Peston uncovered emails from then-royal reporter Clive Goodman (who was the first person to be jailed over phone hacking) to then-editor Andy Coulson (who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's top communications aide) asking for money to pay police officers for huge amounts of personal information about the royal family.
--The Guardian reported Monday morning that Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were recently warned by the police that their phones may have been hacked.
--The Daily Mirror also floated allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. A source told the Mirror that a then-New York City police officer (now a private investigator) was approached and offered money if he would hack into the victims' voicemail. The officer reportedly declined the offer. |
