Phone-hacking: News International defence in pieces as new documents published

By Ian Dunt

A letter by former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman has seemingly crippled News International's defence and dragged phone-hacking back into the front pages.

The Clive Goodman letter, which was written four years ago but only published now by the Guardian and the culture, media and sport committee, says that phone-hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the newspaper until Andy Coulson banned people from mentioning it.

That allegation calls into question Mr Coulson's assertions that he knew nothing of how widespread phone-hacking was until much later.

"Clive Goodman's letter is the most significant piece of evidence that has been revealed so far," Labour MP and phone-hacking campaigner Tom Watson told the Guardian.

"It completely removes News International's defence. This is one of the largest cover-ups I have seen in my lifetime."

The development comes on the same day that MPs on the media committee announced they would be recalling Tom Crone and Colin Myler, two former senior News International figures who have questioned James Murdoch's version of events at his recent select committee grilling.

The letter also alleges that Mr Coulson offered Mr Goodman the chance to keep his job if he did not implicate the newspaper in court and that plenty of other senior reporters were aware of the practise.

It emerged from the evidence pile that News International redacted all references to the editorial meetings before handing the letters to the media committee.

"Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me," Mr Goodman wrote in an appeal against his dismissal at the newspaper.

The new development is potentially devastating for Mr Coulson and, through him, David Cameron, who offered the former News of the World editor a job as his chief communication despite knowing about the phone-hacking allegations.

They also cast a spotlight on Les Hilton, Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man, who received the letter but took no further action. Later, Mr Hilton would give evidence before a parliamentary committee insisting Mr Coulson knew nothing about phone-hacking.

The new evidence also suggests that mr Goodman was paid considerably more by News International than it had previously admitted, a fact critics will sieze on as evidence that it was paying "hush money" to buy his silence.

The new batch of documents, set to be released a little later by the media committee, also contains letters from News International's legal firm, Harbottle and Lewis, which stresses that the Murdochs should not have relied on its review to be satisfied that phone-hacking was not widespread.

The legal firm stated that its review was "short, limited in terms of access to documents, without any access at all to witnesses".