Cameron Says Leveson Dealt With Phone Hacking

David Cameron has told Ed Miliband he should accept the findings of the Leveson inquiry, as the Labour leader accused him of bringing "a criminal into the heart of Downing Street".

In robust Commons exchanges, Mr Miliband accused the Prime Minister of "wilful negligence" in employing the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his chief spin doctor, who is now facing jail after being convicted of phone hacking.

But Mr Cameron hit back and said the opposition leader should take note of the £5m Leveson inquiry into press standards, which cleared him of any wrongdoing.

He also mocked Mr Miliband for being "weak" for attacking Rupert Murdoch and then posing with The Sun newspaper, only to apologise for doing so a short-time later.

The two leaders clashed as the sister of the murdered school girl Milly Dowler - whose voicemail messages were hacked by a private investigator at the News of the World - urged Mr Cameron to bring in "real" press regulation.

Appearing in a campaign video for the Hacked Off group, Gemma Dowler complained the Independent Press Standards Organisation - set up after the Leveson Inquiry - is not up to the job.

The judge in the hacking trail at the Old Bailey also criticised the PM for making a public apology for employing Coulson while the jury was still considering other charges.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Miliband said: "The truth about this is that the charge against the Prime Minister is not one of ignorance, it is wilful negligence.

"At the heart of this scandal are thousands of innocent victims of phone hacking he didn't stand up for.

"The Prime Minister will always be remembered as being the first ever occupant of his office who brought a criminal into the heart of Downing Street."

But in one of a number of repeated references to the Leveson inquiry, Mr Cameron said: "He can't bear the fact that an eight-month inquiry that he hoped was going to pin the blame on me found that I had behaved correctly throughout. That is the case.

"Every single one of these issues was dealt with exhaustively by the Leveson Inquiry.

"He looked into all of these questions about the warnings I was given and the response I gave and he made no criticism of my conduct.

"I know you were disappointed by the Leveson Inquiry but you called for it, it took place and you should heed what it said."

Earlier, the PM had repeated his apology to MPs for hiring Coulson.

"I take full responsibility for employing Andy Coulson. I did so on the basis of assurances that I received.

"But I always said that if those assurances turned out to be wrong I would apologise fully and frankly to this House of Commons and I do so today from this despatch box. This was the wrong decision."

But the Labour leader said Coulson's appointment had brought disgrace to Downing Street.

He said: "This is about your character, your judgement and the warnings you ignored."