Coulson hearing live blog
James Forsyth 12:13pmAndy Coulson is now giving evidence to the DCMS select committee, we'll have live coverage.
12.15pm Coulson stresses that he has had no contact with Mulcaire. He says that he regularly paid five figures for a story or a picture and so the payments to the firm of investigators did not stand out.
12.20pm Coulson is using the line ‘mistakes were made’ to deflect questioning about the arrangements during his editorship. Coulson doesn’t look delighted to be there but his repeated willingness to admit that mistakes were made is giving him some breathing space.
12.30pm Stuart Kuttner starts by asking the Tory MP Philip Davies to withdraw because he had said that he resigned because he knew about this whole business. Davies rejects the request with a chuckle.
12.40pm Kuttner can’t say if money has been paid to Goodman or Mulcaire since their conviction.
12.45 Davies is pushing Coulson on whether others than the Royal editor using phone tapping, Coulson says there’s no evidence linking the News of the World to Mulcaire’s other taps of people like Elle McPherson. And that’s it from Davies who was quite aggressive in his questioning but didn’t get very far.
12.50pm Coulson tells Janet Anderson that there ‘wouldn’t be a hope of a public interest defence’ in the Goodman case. She then asks him if he ever in his twenty year career knew about phone tapping, voice mail interception or any other illegal activity. Coulson says such stuff was in the ether but he didn’t have any direct suspicions.
1pm Paul Farrelly tries to push Coulson on whether he can have a relationship of trust with the Palace now given what his journalist did. Coulson says there’s no problem at his end. So far, Tory high command must be feeling very good about how this is going.
1.20pm Coulson tells Adam Price that he can’t recall ever asking Goodman where one of his stories came from.
1.25pm Coulson rather cheekily points out that he didn't know what Goodman was up to just as (implicitly) Tom Watson didn't know what McBride was up to.
1.30pm Here comes Tom Watson. He starts by asking if Goodman deserved a jail sentence, Coulson says he won’t argue with the judgement but won’t endorse it.
1.35pm Coulson tells Tom Watson that his sole income was from News of the World and now from the Tory party. He stresses he has received no money from advertising or pr firms during the period between him resigning from the NOTW and moving to the Tories.
That's Watson done and no blood drawn.
1.45pm Coulson says that there’s ‘more evidence that my phone was hacked [by Mulcaire] than that John Prescott’s was’.
1.50pm And that is that. Andy Coulson and the Tory leadership must be pretty delighted with how that went. No new revelations, no blood drawn and no further damage done to Andy Coulson. I suspect that they will be pretty confident he is out of the woods now.
Previous
Steve
July 21st, 2009 12:47pm Report this commentwhat - nothing in 25 minutes?
Maggie
July 21st, 2009 1:31pm Report this commentStuart Kuttner strikes me as the sort of person who might enjoy going behind the editor's back and indulging in intrigue in order to emphasise his obvious self importance.
I believe Coulson's telling the truth and I'm not surprised he resigned when there were sleazebags keeping him in the dark about criminal activities at the paper.
- Adam Bolton is quite right when he says there's no story. The Guardian and the BBC are idiots in continuing with their attempts to make something out of nothing.
Mark
July 21st, 2009 1:31pm Report this commentAnything that gets the usual Labour propaganda suspects foaming at the mouth over on the Guardian blog is amusing to say the least. They are accusing the press, the BBC and other unlikely sources of being anti the truth (ie: anti Labour). Whatever next!
Turbo
July 21st, 2009 1:49pm Report this commentHow did that Chump get on the select committee so soon after resigning with quite a dirty name from government (even if not enough of the mud actually stuck to finish him for good)? Mind you I suppose Keith Vaz did it too!
Chris lancashire
July 21st, 2009 1:53pm Report this commentHave just watched the performance - a pointless waste of time by self important, overblown MPs. A great advert for even longer Parliamentary recesses.
Obnoxio The Clown
July 21st, 2009 2:04pm Report this comment"Coulson rather cheekily points out that he didn't know what Goodman was up to just as (implicitly) Tom Watson didn't know what McBride was up to."
I believe neither one of them, to be honest. But I believe Coulson slightly more. Watson, not at all.
oldtimer
July 21st, 2009 3:14pm Report this commentSaw the earlier part of Coulson responses (up to c1pm). The MPs seemed to be scratching around a lot and finding nothing.
I was not impressed by the MPs. The Treasury committee also seems to have some none too impressive MPs on it. A few are OK, but one ot two are just dreadful - an embarrassment to watch and hear. Listening to them is a great advertisement for:
(1) requiring MPs to have had gainful employment outside politics before they become MPs
(2) encouraging them to have second jobs while they are MPs unless they hold a ministerial post or are a PPS.
Their ignorance of the world is, at times, quite woeful.
Andy
July 21st, 2009 3:25pm Report this commentWhy is Parliament involving itself in this?
What is the relevance?
Pat
July 21st, 2009 3:34pm Report this commentHow did Tom Watson last three and a bit hours without at least a couple of Pie Breaks or did he go off camera for a quick bite?
What a chump. He and many like him will be in NI's crosshairs.
"Watch my tracer. Watch my tracer"
The Guardian should be prosecuted for wasteing taxpayers money.
Jean Baker
July 21st, 2009 3:57pm Report this commentThe actions of a kangaroo court in a facist state. It seems identical treatment is being meted to Mr Coulson as Dr Kelly before him.
Issues in relation to alleged phone tapping are a matter for impartial police investigation.
Jean Baker
July 21st, 2009 4:00pm Report this commentMr Coulson has the right to legal representation and the right to remain silent until formerly charged in line with British law.
TrevorsDen
July 21st, 2009 4:26pm Report this commentGiven that as far as i can see there has been absolutely no evidence revealed for the Guardian/BBC 'story', I am not surprised by the negative nature of this hearing.
Coulson took the rap for his failure of leadership (which is more than Brown has ever done) - and this other payment happened after he left.
I think this all has blown up because someone at the Guardian misread the dates.
Flemingcrag
July 21st, 2009 4:28pm Report this commentI thought the questioning from the Labour members on the Select Committee was restrained. There seems to be a realisation in the Labour party in general that the general election will be difficult for them and they face the real prospect of losing very many parliamentary seats.
On consideration of this the Faustian pact they embarked on with the Guardian and BBC to get Coulson and the lost momentum because of the tragic turn of events in Afghanistan meant the 48 hours to get Andy Coulson is long gone. So, rather than face total annihilation at the polls with NI after them with all guns blazing they have decided to back-peddle.
Andy Coulson would be well advised to resist hubris at this Labour surrender and Guardian/BBC humiliation and do what he has done so effectively up to now; Keep his head down and get on with his work.
Jane
July 21st, 2009 4:45pm Report this commentGuardian blog well worth a look though- oozing vitriol! V funny!
rmh
July 21st, 2009 4:48pm Report this comment@ Obnoxio
I reckon you are right but at least Coulson is competent at his job!
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