Phone Hacking

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Fowler]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the latest police estimate of the number of individuals whose phones have been hacked by newspapers, and how many arrests have been made.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley)]

My Lords, the latest estimates by the Metropolitan Police Service indicate that there may be about 800 likely victims of phone hacking. There have been 17 arrests as a result of the continuing police investigation.

[Lord Fowler]

My Lords, we obviously do not know how many people will be charged, but we do now have a very good picture of how widespread phone hacking was. Is it not clear that the phone hackers and those who employed them believed that their power put them above the law? Given that, is not one of the lessons of this whole scandal that we should never again allow one proprietor or one company to own a disproportionate amount of the British media?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am not going to comment on the last point made by my noble friend, but no doubt the House and others will have listened to that. The police have spoken to about 1,800 people, of whom, as I said, 800 are likely victims. Whether charges will result from those 17 arrests is something on which I cannot comment.