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Jamie Fahey

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Former home secretary might advise Theresa May to launch investigation into Metropolitan police's conduct over News of the World phone-hacking allegations

The former home secretary, Alan Johnson, has said there "may now be a case" for a review of the police investigation into allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World.

His comments come as the Metropolitan police is facing increasing pressure after the New York Times quoted unnamed detectives alleging they had cut short their investigation because of their close relationship with the News of the World.

Johnson said he will be going into the Home Office to review papers on the case dating from his time as home secretary before offering his advice on the issue to his Conservative successor, Theresa May.

In a statement released this afternoon he revealed he "felt uncomfortable" with the progress police were making during the investigation and had considered calling in the government body that monitors the performance of police forces in the UK to take over the investigation.

Two other Labour figures have already weighed into the controversy. This morning, the former deputy prime minister John Prescott called for a judicial review of the conduct of the force, while Tom Watson has written an open letter to the force's commissioner saying the Met's conduct is "bringing shame" on the UK.

Johnson's statement comes after the paper confirmed it had suspended a journalist while it investigates new allegations of the unlawful interception of voicemail.

Johnson revealed that he had considered ordering Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), a body that inspects and publishes reports on police forces, to take over the investigation, but decided against it after discussions with Scotland Yard.

However, Johnson said that there now may be a case for HMIC to investigate.

"As home secretary I was concerned to ensure the Metropolitan police conducted a rigorous and thorough investigation into all of the facts and allegations relating to the News of the World phone tapping case," he said, describing the allegations as "extremely serious".

"Because I felt uncomfortable with the progress being made in the investigation, I considered calling in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to take over the investigation.

"However, following reassuring conversations with senior officers in Scotland Yard I decided not to. In the light of the further serious allegations that have surfaced recently there may now be a case for the home secretary to ask the HMIC to investigate."

Johnson said he would be returning to the Home Office – his right as a former home secretary – to review papers relating to the phone tapping accusations.

"I will then give whatever help I can to the current home secretary to ensure she has a complete picture of all the facts," he said.

Watson published a letter written to Sir Paul Stephenson, the force's commissioner, this afternoon.

He called on Stephenson to confirm or deny allegations that investigating officers refused to reveal to then assistant commissioner Brian Paddick that Paddick's name was on a list of public figures belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for stealing secrets from mobile phone voice messages.

Watson also requested that the Met reveal how many MPs were on the list and how victims of phone hacking were targeted, and asked Stephenson to respond to New York Times allegations that key evidence was witheld from the Crown Prosecution Service by police.

"Your conduct of this matter is being scrutinised all over the world. So far, it is bringing shame – as has News International – on our country," Watson concluded.

Paddick is seeking a judicial review of the Met's alleged failure to tell him that his name had been found on Mulcaire's list, while Prescott called for a judicial review in a radio interview this morning.

Prescott said the police had repeatedly refused to tell him whether his phone was hacked by News of the World journalists after a Guardian investigation revealed his name was on a list of public figures belonging to Mulcaire.

"The only way the truth can come out … is to have it properly investigated and really have a judicial review, that's the least that is needed," Prescott told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Prescott said the police had told him they would let him know by 10 September whether they were prepared to give him the information he is demanding.

"If they fail to give us the information, which is certainly available but has to be given to us, I will seek a judicial review," he said.

• News of the World phone-hacking scandal
• Newspapers & magazines
• Newspapers
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Adam GabbattHaroon Siddique
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Former minister Tom Watson, who has demanded a judicial inquiry into latest claims, says Met bringing itself into disrepute

The Labour MP Tom Watson has written to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, accusing the force of bringing democracy into disrepute over its "continued mishandling" of the News of the World phone hacking investigation.

Watson, a former minister, also called for Stephenson to answer a series of questions about the Met's handling of the affair.

Yesterday he wrote to Nick Clegg calling for a full judicial inquiry into allegations of collusion between the Met and News International, which publishes the News of the World. This follows a New York Times report alleging that the Met failed to pass some evidence of phone-hacking to the Crown Prosecution Service. He also called for a full investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the paper's allegations of collusion between News International and the Met.

In a letter sent today to Stephenson, Watson said: "The Metropolitan police's historic and continued mishandling of this affair is bringing your force, and hence our democracy, into disrepute.

"Former assistant commissioner Brian Paddick has requested a judicial review of the Metropolitan police's investigation (or lack of it – we do not know) into his phone being hacked by newspapers while he was a serving officer. This is extraordinary."

Watson also asked for answers to a series of questions, including whether the Met knew Paddick's phone had been hacked and deliberately withheld this information. He also requested that the force to make public a list of names of suspected victims of News of the World phone-hacking.

"Your conduct of this matter is being scrutinised all over the world. So far, it is bringing shame – as has News International – on our country," Watson added.

Watson is a member of the Commons culture select committee, which reopened its investigation into press standards after the Guardian revealed last year that News International had paid settlements to three victims of phone-hacking, including the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor, on condition of confidentiality.

The initial Met investigation resulted in the News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman, and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, being jailed for intercepting voicemail messages in January 2007. Andy Coulson, the Downing Street director of communications who was then News of the World editor, resigned after Goodman was found guilty.

However, the Guardian revealed last year that the police had found evidence of more widespread phone hacking, but chose to limit their investigation to Goodman and Mulcaire.

Chris Bryant, a former Labour foreign office minister, told BBC Radio 4 today that police had warned him that his phone could have been hacked but he was frustrated at the lack of further details. He said: "And so I have now been trying to pursue the police to actually give me more information so that I know exactly what happened and since they are refusing to do that, we are going for judicial review. The thing is, I don't think they have properly investigated."

The Met yesterday denied accusations that it failed to pass on key evidence. A statement issued by the force said: "The Met does not consider that the issues raised by the New York Times accurately reflect how the investigation was conducted, constitute new evidence, or lead us to change our position.

"The CPS had full access to all the evidence gathered and the final indictment appropriately represented the criminality uncovered.

"The case was the subject of the most careful investigation by very experienced detectives and has been subject to extensive independent scrutiny by the CPS, director of public prosecutions, and the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee.

"The Met has considered whether matters raised by the media or elsewhere constituted new evidence that merited further investigation. We considered then, and we remain of the view, that no new evidence has emerged to justify re-opening this inquiry. Independently, the CPS, leading counsel and the director of public prosecutions reached the same conclusion."

The Media Standards Trust today backed calls for a judicial inquiry into the allegations of illegal phone-hacking practices at the News International title. It said in a statement: "We believe strongly in the principle of a self-regulated press, but given the new allegations made by the New York Times and the failure of the press to confront the issue of phone-hacking, we believe that only an independent judicial inquiry with full subpoena powers can now bring all the facts to light.

"Despite the excellent work of the select committee, and the sustained investigation by the Guardian, the full facts of the case remain unclear. Only an independent inquiry can expose the scale of the intrusion and indicate whether it is still going on, and – critically – restore public confidence in the press."

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• News of the World phone-hacking scandal
• Sir Paul Stephenson
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Josh Halliday
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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution to return to ABC with focus on Los Angeles, after ratings and Emmy success

Jamie Oliver's US show has been commissioned for a second series by the ABC network after winning an Emmy.

While series one of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution focused on "the unhealthiest city in America" – Huntington, West Virginia – the second series is due to tackle the obesity problems in the second-largest city in the US, Los Angeles.

The first series will be called Jamie's American Food Revolution in the UK and is due to begin airing on Channel 4 on 13 September. Filming on the second series is to begin later this year.

Both series are co-productions between Oliver's Fresh One company and Ryan Seacrest Productions.

Zoe Collins and Roy Ackerman are executive producing the series on behalf of Fresh One, alongside Seacrest, who is a host of American Idol, and the US producers Craig Armstrong and Charles Wachter.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution has been a ratings success for ABC and won the 2010 Emmy award for outstanding reality series last month.

The Food Revolution format is based on the Channel 4 series Jamie's Ministry of Food and Jamie's School Dinners programmes and is part of Oliver's ongoing campaign to improve the way people eat.

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Tara Conlan
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Weekly "newszine", Scene, replaces Harlow Herald and East Herts Herald with part-free, part paid-for distribution

The regional newspaper publisher Archant has stopped publishing of two of its Hertfordshire free titles, launching a a series of weekly "newszines" in their place.

The Harlow Herald and the East Herts Herald, both weekly, printed their final editions this week. The first edition of the magazine that is to replace them, Scene, was printed yesterday; its distribution is to be partly paid-for and partly free.

Archant says it is recruiting two extra editorial staff and three extra advertising staff for the new title, with one job loss – a part-time receptionist.

Archant, which describes itself as the UK's largest independently owned regional media business, said the closure of the two titles is symbolic of a change in how people consume news. Scene aims to capitalise on the "lean-back" format of magazine reading, also launching a new website and mobile site for around-the-clock news.

"This project was born out of necessity," said Stuart McCreery, managing director of Archant Herts & Cambs. "The economic and multimedia climate in which we operate was challenging us and we needed to find a new way to satisfy our customers and readers in a more engaging and attractive manner. The Scene series will serve a wide audience in an innovative way.

"Our sales and editorial staff are really excited about this launch and it is credit to them that we are able to bring such a fresh product to market in tricky times. I am sure readers and customers will like the format and the approach."

An initial 55,000 copies of Scene will be distributed across the region, with four editions covering Bishop's Stortford, Harlow, Hertford, Ware, Cheshunt, Hoddesden and surrounding areas.

The Harlow Herald recorded a circulation of 36,227 in the six months to June 2010, making it among the most widely read weekly regional newspapers in Essex. Circulation was down 2.1% year on year, and down 1.7% on the six months to December 2009.

The East Herts Herald had an average circulation of 29,109 in the first half of 2010, down 30.3% year on year and 7.7% on the previous six months.

Operating profits at Archant from the first six months of 2010 were recorded at £7m, up by £2m on the same period in 2009. Total revenue at the publisher declined by 0.9% to £70.1m in July this year.

Archant required the Harlow Herald and East Herts Herald from Home Counties Newspapers in 1998.

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Josh Halliday
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New social network built inside iTunes fails to keep out the spammers, showing a curse of social media – even inside proprietorial walls

Apple chief Steve Jobs's trumpeting of the 160 million credit card holders on iTunes was a siren call to spammers. As if they needed any invitation.

The most common incidence of scamming on Apple's latest social venture, Ping, is the offering of free iPhones from a dodgy URL. These avatar-less lurkers are mostly hanging around Ping's more famous participants – Katy Perry, for instance.

As MacRumors points out, no credit card details are needed to sign up for an iTunes Store account – the requisite accreditation for joining Ping – which would appear the spammers' way in.

"[Ping] implements no spam or URL filtering," says internet security firm Sophos, adding that the service is "drowning in scams and spams".

And it appears that Ping has also received a touch of the early-day Twitter, musician Ben Folds last night saying that an account had been created in his name. Verified accounts, Mr Jobs? (And are you sure those were Jack Johnson's tour photos? Was that really Coldplay's Chris Martin on stage on Wednesday?)

Graham Clulely, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: "We're used to survey scams like this being spread far and wide via sites like Facebook, but clearly the lack of filtering on Ping is making it a brand new playground for the bad guys to operate in.

"It's ironic that the most common scams on Ping right now revolve around Apple's own iPhone. It's safe to assume that Ping does incorporate some rudimentary filtering to prevent offensive messages from being posted, so hopefully Apple's security team can extend this to also block scam messages and malicious links. In the meantime, though, Ping users should be wary of believing what they read on the new service."

Remember back in 2009 when Twitter was plagued by spammers? This is what happened when the site announced a declaration of war on spam in October last year:

Sophos also say the iTunes 10 update fixes 13 "separate vulnerabilities" in the components used to render the iTunes interface.

• Ping
• Apple
• itunes
• Spam

Josh Halliday
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Kennedy, who has been at the station for 17 years, is leaving, BBC spokeswoman confirms

Sarah Kennedy, the BBC Radio 2 DJ, will not be returning to the station, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

Kennedy, 60, who has had a long career in TV and radio, has been away from the station on holiday for the past few weeks. Lynn Parsons is currently presenting her 5am-7am daily Radio 2 show.

Rumours of Kennedy's impending departure began to circulate last night and a BBC spokeswoman confirmed today she was leaving Radio 2.

Kennedy, who first rose to prominence on the 1980s ITV show Game for a Laugh, has been at the station for 17 years.

BBC insiders claimed that executives at Radio 2 have been concerned about some of Kennedy's on-air performances but recognised she was a popular presenter who had served the organisation well for many years. The BBC spokeswoman said: "We did not terminate Sarah's contract. She goes with our blessing."

Parsons will continue to present the 5am show for the next four weeks but the station's early morning schedule expected to be revamped after that.

Bob Shennan, controller of Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music, will announce plans for the new-look schedule shortly.

"After 17 years of early starts, the temptation of destroying my alarm clock has proved too much to resist," Kennedy said in a statement.

"I shall miss my Dawn Patrollers – their wit, wisdom and warmth, more than I can put into words. After I've taken a long-earned rest, I'm looking forward to new opportunities, hopefully inside and outside broadcasting."

Shennan added: "Everyone at Radio 2 would like to thank Sarah for her many years of sterling service, and wish her the very best of luck for the future. We shall miss her."

An experienced broadcaster, Kennedy was reprimanded on several occasions over the years about on-air gaffes.

In 2000 she had to apologise for suggesting that black people made good athletes because they were used to running away from lions. She also caused some offence in 2005 when she suggested on air, in the wake of revelations about John Prescott's extra-marital activities, that his nickname should be changed from "two jags" to "two shags".

In 1999, she caused complaints when she described a clergyman as an "old prune" to his face and called her fellow DJ Ken Bruce an "old fool". She also accused a newsreader of soiling her underwear.

Most notoriously, in 2007 Kennedy was reprimanded for telling listeners she could not see black people in the dark. "You know what happened to me yesterday," she told her listeners, before going on to say that she had narrowly avoided running over a black man because she failed to see him crossing a road.

"It's lucky he opened his mouth to yawn or do something and I saw him. He was wearing a black hat, black clothes and he was just invisible." The BBC said at the time of the incident that Kennedy had been "spoken to".

However, Kennedy has a loyal fan base and is frequently defended on the BBC's website by her listeners. She has also stumbled over her words and slurred her way through several shows in the past, prompting concerns about her health.

Kennedy started in the early morning Radio 2 5am-7am slot in January 1993.

Her Radio 2 show is know as the "Dawn Patrol" and audiences peaked at 4.7 million after it moved to a slightly later time slot of 6am to 7.30am in 1994. It reverted to a 5am start in January this year.

She became a household name in the 1980s when she presented ITV prime-time show Game for a Laugh with Henry Kelly, Matthew Kelly and the late Jeremy Beadle.

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• Sarah Kennedy
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James Robinson
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Mark Thompson photographed with memo revealing Andy Coulson's 'concern' that BBC gives context to cuts coverage

The BBC has been forced to defend its impartiality after Mark Thompson, the director general, was photographed yesterday going into a meeting in Downing Street to discuss a season of TV and radio programmes about the government's spending cuts.

Thompson was photographed carrying an internal email from Helen Boaden, the BBC News director, saying that she had had lunch with Andy Coulson, the coalition government's director of communications, at which he had expressed concern "that we give context to our Spending Review Season".

Boaden's email went on to provide Thompson with briefing notes on the season – which begins next week across BBC TV, radio and online services – for his Downing Street meeting yesterday. The subject line of the email was "Briefing for Steve Hilton meeting". Hilton is David Cameron's director of strategy.

She said she had responded to Coulson's concerns about context by saying "that's what we always try to do ... inform the public about the whys and wherefores".

In the email, which was CCed to Mark Byford, the BBC deputy director general and head of journalism, Boaden also defended the corporation's spending cuts coverage over the summer, saying it had "mostly been driven by news lines".

Boaden cited examples including the billionaire retail mogul Sir Philip Green's appointment to head an external review of the government's spending cuts and the Institute for Fiscal Studies report claiming the poorest would be hardest hit by the measures.

"The director general has made it repeatedly clear that the impartiality of the BBC is paramount," a BBC spokesman said.

"The director general in his role as editor-in-chief discussed the possible participation of a number of members of the government in the BBC's coverage of the spending review this autumn. The BBC has regular meetings with both government and opposition parties. Both he and colleagues will also be talking to all the main political parties on this issue."

However, Thompson's PR gaffe prompted unease within BBC News, where correspondents and programme editors face regular pressure from all the main parties over their political coverage.

One senior BBC insider said: "What the fuck's he doing going in to see Hilton anyway? Management and editorial should be completely separate."

The BBC will also be keen to avoid any appearance that it is soft-pedalling on its coverage of the government in the build up to next year's negotiations about a new licence fee deal.

The Labour MP Michael Dugher told the Daily Mail: "The political independence of the BBC should be absolutely sacrosanct and it is very odd that the director general is going into Downing Street for this kind of meeting. The BBC is within its rights to publicise the cuts to public spending in whatever way it sees fit."

Thompson said in an interview with the New Statesman earlier this week that the BBC had become "increasingly tough-minded about the concept of impartiality" since the Hutton report in early 2004.

"If you wanted to criticise us you would say we are becoming increasingly tough-minded about the concept of impartiality. In a sense we are becoming more explicit," he said. "That is a post-Hutton change in the organisation. Impartiality is going up and up the agenda."

He also defended the BBC against accusations that it had given Cameron an easy ride in opposition.

"It's easier to cover opposition politics when you've got an opposition with a clear leadership and clear agenda. We are doing our best to cover the Labour leadership competition, but, in a way, normal politics will only resume in the autumn [when there is a new opposition leader]," he added.

The Spending Review - Making It Clear begins next week and runs through to a government announcement on the next phase of the cost cutting process on 20 October.

Newsnight and Radio 4's Today programme will be running special features on the spending review, while the BBC political editor, Nick Robinson, is travelling around the country to find out what are the key issues affecting voters.

Next Thursday BBC1 will be broadcasting 12 simultaneous regional The Spending Review - Making It Clear debates across England. Jeremy Vine will be hosting the London debate.

The debates will feature local politicians, public sector workers business leaders and members of the public.

In BBC blogpost published late yesterday, Byford said: "This kind of comprehensive programming, providing real public service is what the BBC is here to do and we will continue to follow the story throughout the autumn. We hope it will help our audiences understand the full context of the spending review and what it may mean for them."

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• BBC
• Radio industry
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• Conservatives

Jason Deans
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Children's minister points to need for 'heeding basic child psychology principles when involving young people in TV'

The coalition government is to press ahead with a full review of the UK's child performance laws to protect young people from potential exploitation by reality TV formats.

Announcing the move earlier this week Tim Loughton, the children's minister, referred to Channel 4's Boys and Girls Alone, saying it "sparked fierce debate about a kind of engineered Lord of the Flies type of scenario".

Ofcom received 180 complaints about the show last year from viewers and organisations, including the NSPCC, the majority of which were about the safety and welfare of children who were shown being bullied and in temporary distress.

The media regulator cleared Channel 4 of harming children who took part, but criticised the broadcaster for not doing enough to tell viewers of the safeguards it had put in place.

Loughton, speaking at the International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA) conference of psychologists in Cambridge on Wednesday, said: "There is a growing need to look again at our child performance laws, which date back to the 1960s. That is something that I will be undertaking in the autumn, together with the rather antiquated legislation on child employment."

The minister noted that some observers see a continuation of the Victorian freak show in modern reality television, and added that there was a need for "heeding basic child psychology principles when involving young people in TV programmes".

He said there was concern at the way impressionable youngsters were being conditioned to liking "that sort of thing". "That has raised profound questions over how young people involve themselves in the media and their experiences within it," Loughton added.

"Shows like Boys and Girls Alone, which was aired by Channel 4 last year, sparked fierce debate about a kind of engineered Lord of the Flies type of scenario, with the removal and separation of children from their families serving as a useful reminder... of [the importance of] heeding basic child psychology... when involving young people in a television programme."

Loughton said the government intended to continue the work of Dr Tanya Byron on internet safety, and children's TV academic Professor David Buckingham's review on commercialisation. He also highlighted the importance of the childhood and families taskforce set up by the new government, to assist families, which is chaired by David Cameron.

The conference was organised by the thinktank Mindful Policy Group, which promotes child mental health.

• Television industry
• Channel 4
• Children
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Maggie Brown
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Time for a brief departure from the cats and dogs. Apparently it is possible to have too much grainy reality in your video viewing.

Fortunately commercial giants can now be found thrusting themselves in the general direction of YouTube, positively salivating over a few thousand clicks and shares. Which leads us nicely onto this week's top video: Play The Impossible by the electronics manufacturer LG.

All that said, it would have been remiss of us to overlook the near genius given a platform by the world's most popular video site. Take a bow, Cassetteboy.

Don't worry, we've haven't forgotten about dog-based video popularity either.

Guardian Viral Video Chart. Compiled by Unruly Media and edited by Josh

1 Play the impossible – the London Eye
LG, nice work.

2 Cassetteboy vs. Dragons' Den
A genius, dare I say it.

3 Action movie phone call fail
*Chuckles*. Nice.

4 Double skateboard fail
Fail videos dominate YouTube's "Most Popular" at time of writing – we think this is up there with the best.

5 Car jumps over another
Nice momentum.

6 Asteroid discovery from 1980 to 2010
Ooooh.

7 Revenge of the cat
Bin Cat Lady wasn't as gentle as this.

8 Dancing merengue dog
Dog-featured fun slides down the Viral Video Chart this week.

9 Tippexperience
Nice, but points deducted for making this marketing ploy unembeddable.

10 Pepsi Max Diner 2.0
Meh.

Source: Viral Video Chart. Compiled from data gathered at 16:00 on 2 September 2010. The Weekly Viral Video Chart is currently based on a count of the embedded videos and links on approximately two million blogs.

Josh Halliday
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Labour wants assurances that the inquiry into the scandal was not weakened

Scotland Yard was tonight under fresh pressure to reveal what it knew about attempts by the News of the World to hack the phones of senior police officers.

Concern over the extent of the News of the World's hacking of the phones of prominent people increased after it was revealed that the name of Brian Paddick, the former deputy assistant commissioner, was found on documents belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for stealing secrets from mobile phone voice messages.

Joanne McCartney, Labour's lead member on the Metropolitan Police Authority demanded the force provide more answers about its investigations into the scandal, which critics have claimed was too limited.

In a letter to the Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson she wrote: "Did the News of the World, private investigators or reporters working for the newspaper or for News International ever hack into the phones or access the voicemails of senior police officers?" McCartney's letter states: "It is vital that the public can be confident the Met is investigating crime without fear or favour."

Paddick is seeking a judicial review of the force's alleged failure to tell him his name had been found in the list of public figures. Another name on the list was the former commissioner Sir Ian Blair. Also on the list was Michael Fuller, then a senior officer at the Met who later became the first ethnic minority chief constable, when he led the Kent force.

Privately figures on the police authority are concerned whether the Met felt under any pressure over their investigation because senior officers's name were found on documents belonging to the private investigator. Criticism of the Met's investigation includes the fact the force seemed to accept that the hacking was limited just to one reporter, with senior executives unaware of the practice.

The letter to Stephenson asks: "Can you confirm how many people you believe may have had their phones hacked? Can you confirm how many have been informed of this fact by the MPS [Met police]?

"Can you confirm when these people were informed, given that phone records are only kept for so long? Can you also reassure me that MPS officers investigating these allegations did not come under any internal pressure to weaken their investigation?"

Labour's letter follows a New York Times piece which made further allegations about the scandal. The article alleged that a Met press officer tried to stress the force's long-term relationship with News International to investigating officers.

A senior official in the criminal justice system with knowledge of the case said the chances of fresh prosecutions were minimal, despite the latest revelations. They said phone records and other documentation covering alleged hacking dating back several years would no longer exist.

The piece in the New York Times quoted a former News of the World reporter, Sean Hoare, who said Andy Coulson, the former editor, was aware of the practice. Coulson is now David Cameron's director of communications.

Hoare's statement is expected to be of interest to Scotland Yard. But the fact he was sacked because of drink and drug problems means his credibility in front of a jury could be fatally undermined, even if he was prepared to confess his own involvement in criminal activity.

An official said: "Unless someone was involved, that admitted their involvement and there was corroboration, there is no chance of prosecution."

• News of the World phone-hacking scandal
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Vikram Dodd
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• Calls for judicial inquiry after reporter is suspended
• Latest phone hacking allegation dates from earlier this year
• Four targets poised to sue police over failure to warn them

The government tonight came under pressure to set up a judicial inquiry into the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World after the paper confirmed that it has suspended a journalist while it investigates new allegations of the unlawful interception of voicemail.

The prime minister's media adviser, Andy Coulson, has denied a report in the New York Times which claimed he freely discussed the use of unlawful news-gathering techniques when he was editing the paper and "actively encouraged" a named reporter to engage in illegal interception of voicemail messages. Coulson has always denied knowing of any illegal activity by his journalists.

Scotland Yard, too, found itself in the firing line after the New York Times quoted unnamed detectives alleging they had cut short their investigation because of their close relationship with the News of the World. A group of four public figures, including former deputy prime minister John Prescott, is poised to sue police over a failure to warn them they had been targeted by the private investigator at the centre of the scandal, Glenn Mulcaire.

The Guardian has learned that the Metropolitan police commissioner at the time of the original investigation, Sir Ian Blair, was among those whose names were found in material seized from Mulcaire, raising questions about whether officers who were directly involved in the investigation had discovered that they, too, had been targets of the newspaper. It is understood Blair was assured at the time that his phone had not been hacked.

The former Labour minister Tom Watson today called on the government to set up an inquiry into the relationship between Scotland Yard and Rupert Murdoch's News Group, which publishes the News of the World. In a letter which was addressed to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, in the absence of the prime minister, who is on paternity leave, Watson wrote: "The testimony given to the New York Times is that the police did not share all the relevant information with the Crown Prosecution Service, and that, if they had done, the CPS would have reached a different conclusion. These are clear grounds for a judicial inquiry.

"I think that information should be made available to the people concerned."

Amid signs of unease among the Tories' coalition partners at the new allegations about Coulson, a Lib Dem member of the Commons culture select committee has also called for an inquiry.

Adrian Sanders, MP for Torbay, said: "For the sake of justice a judicial inquiry would, along the lines of the Hutton inquiry, put this to bed once and for all."

At the end of the original police inquiry, in January 2007, Mulcaire and the News of the World's royal reporter, Clive Goodman, were jailed for illegally intercepting the voicemail messages of eight people. The Guardian last year revealed that the scandal involved other journalists at the paper and numerous other victims.

The News of the World today confirmed one of its reporters is currently suspended after his phone number was allegedly identified as the source of an unauthorised attempt earlier this year to access the voicemail of a public figure. The Guardian understands the suspended reporter has worked at the News of the World since January 2005, specialising in celebrity scoops. His name has not appeared in the paper since April. The reporter today did not return phone calls.

The paper's managing editor, Bill Akass, said it was still investigating the allegation. The Press Complaints Commission said it had been aware of the allegation since June but had chosen not to investigate because it was the subject of legal action by the alleged victim. In May the PCC's chair, Lady Buscombe, told Radio 4's Today programme: "If there was a whiff of any continuing activity in this regard, we would be on it like a ton of bricks. I can absolutely assure you of that."

Scotland Yard is facing legal action from four people whose names were found in material seized from Mulcaire in 2006 and who were not warned by police that they were potential victims. The former deputy prime minister, John Prescott, has written to them asking for an explanation for the failure. His solicitor, Dominic Crossley, said: "Absent a sufficient response, he will be beginning proceedings."

Prescott said tonight: "It's vital that the Met comes clean and reveals who and how many people were targeted by this rogue newspaper. We need to know the full truth."

The former Europe minister Chris Bryant, whose name and phone number were found in Mulcaire's possession and who was targeted by tabloid journalists, separately is preparing for a similar judicial review of the police conduct of the case.

Bryant is involved in a joint action with an investigative journalist, Brendan Montague, and one of Scotland Yard's former deputy assistant commissioners, Brian Paddick, whose name was found in Mulcaire's records but who was never warned by his own former colleagues.

Their solicitor, Tamsin Allen of Bindman, plans to ask the court to order Scotland Yard to hand over a list of all those who have been identified as potential victims. She said: "According to the rules, the claim and the pre-action letter should be served on anyone with a legitimate interest in the outcome. We say that that includes all of the people who are effected in the same way as our clients."

According to paperwork in the possession of the CPS and seen by the Guardian, Scotland Yard made repeated requests to prosecutors to "ring-fence" the evidence in order to conceal the names of "sensitive" victims. The paperwork also shows that, after studying phone records, the police found that "a vast number of unique voicemail numbers belonging to high profile individuals (politicians, celebrities) have been identified as being accessed without authority" but the officer in charge, Andy Hayman, subsequently claimed that they had found "only a handful" of victims, a claim which has been repeated by senior Yard officials in recent press briefings.

The lead Labour member on the Metropolitan Police Authority, Joanne McCart ney, tonight wrote to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, asking for details of senior officers whose voicemail may have been intercepted by Mulcaire. "It is vital that the public can be confident the Met is investigating crime without fear or favour," she wrote.

Today it emerged another senior Scotland Yard officer at the time, Michael Fuller, was also on the list of names found in the private investigator's possession.

Scotland Yard has previously admitted that police officers as well as government, military and royal figures were among those who were warned they were potential victims, but they have refused to identify the individuals or even to say how many they warned.

Scotland Yard today dismissed the claims about them. "The Met does not consider the issues raised by the New York Times accurately reflect how the investigation was conducted," a spokesman said.

Other legal actions are also being launched. Sky TV football commentator Andy Gray, the former MP George Galloway, and Max Clifford's former assistant, Nicola Phillips, have all separately issued proceedings for invasion of privacy. And Mark Lewis, a solicitor who handled an earlier legal action, is suing Scotland Yard and the Press Complaints Commission in relation to remarks made in a speech made by Lady Buscombe last year. The PCC has formally apologised, but the case continues.

Others who are known to have had their voicemail accessed – but who were not identified in the original court case – include Prince William, Prince Harry, the then culturesecretary Tessa Jowell, Boris Johnson, the then-editor of the Sun Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson himself as editor of the News of the World, and the former England football manager Steve McClaren.

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Former Labour minister writes to Downing Street calling for investigation with subpoena powers after New York Times story

The Labour MP Tom Watson has called for a full judicial inquiry into allegations of widespread illegal phone-hacking at the News of the World.

Watson, a former minister, has written to No 10 asking David Cameron to set up a wide-ranging inquiry into the relationship between the Metropolitan Police and News International, which publishes the News of the World. The letter is addressed to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, because Cameron is on paternity leave.

A judicial inquiry has the legal authority to subpoena witnesses and would enjoy similar powers to those handed to the Hutton inquiry into the death of the weapons scientist David Kelly in 2003.

Watson's intervention follows a New York Times report published online late on Wednesday which alleged that the Met failed to pass evidence of phone-hacking to the Crown Prosection Service.

According the New York Times: "The officials didn't discuss certain evidence with senior prosecutors, including the notes suggesting the involvement of other reporters, according to a senior prosecutor on the case. The prosecutor was stunned to discover later that the police had not shared everything. 'I would have said we need to see how far this goes' and 'whether we have a serious problem of criminality on this news desk,' said the former prosecutor."

Referring to this allegation in his letter to No 10, Watson wrote: "The testimony given to the NYT is that the police did not share all the relevant information with the CPS. And that if they had done, the CPS would have reached different conclusions. These are clear grounds for a judicial inquiry. Please can you confirm your intention to recommend one."

Watson also called for a full investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the paper's allegations of collusion between News International and the Met.

"The New York Times also suggests direct police collusion with a commercial media organisation, an investigator alleging that a Metropolitan Police press officer attempted to suppress investigation in order to protect the police's "long-term relationship with News International," he wrote. "Please can you confirm that the Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate this serious allegation from a highly reputable source without delay."

The New York Times alleged last night that Andy Coulson, the Conservative Party's director of communications, actively encouraged reporters to obtain information by hacking into mobile phones and listening to voicemail messages when he was editor of the News of the World.

The paper quoted an ex-News of the World journalist, Sean Hoare, a former friend of Coulson, saying he personally played recordings of hacked voicemail messages for him when both men worked at the News of the World's sister title The Sun. Later, according to the paper, when Hoare worked for Coulson at the News of the World, he "continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it', Hoare said".

According to the New York Times, Hoare says that he was fired from the paper "during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol"; this would undermine his credibility as a witness if there were to be any further action against the News of the World.

The New York Times also quotes an unnamed former editor who worked for News International claiming that Coulson talked openly about illegal phone-tapping techniques.

Coulson has always maintained he know nothing about the activity and said in response to the New York Times story: "I absolutely deny these allegations."

News International executives told the Commons culture select committee that Clive Goodman – the paper's former royal editor, who was jailed for intercepting voicemail messages in January 2007 along with a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire – acted alone. Coulson resigned as News of the World editor after Goodman was jailed.

The New York Times also alleged that the Met had not passed full details about how many people were victims of the illegal practice to the CPS because it has a history of cooperation with News International titles. It quoted an unnamed prosecutor who expressed surprise that the Met had failed to alert it to evidence that suggested other News of the World reporters had indulged in the practice on Coulson's watch.

The New York Times report, which be published in the paper's weekend magazine on Sunday, revealed that three people – including Brian Paddick, a former Met commander – are seeking a judicial review into Scotland Yard's handling of the case.

Watson is a member of the Commons culture select committee, which reopened its investigation into press standards after the Guardian revealed last year that News International had paid off three victims of phone-hacking, including the PFA chief executive Graham Taylor, in exchange for their silence.

Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, who is also a member of the committee, criticised the Metropolitan Police today and called on them to make more evidence available. "The police must come clean on all the evidence they collected, why much of it was not shown to prosecutors and why all suspected victims have not been alerted," he said. "For one of the most senior of its former officers [Brian Paddick] to request a judicial review of the police investigation is unprecedented and the Met needs to let the public know its response."

Farrelly added that MPs were likely to consider the fresh revelations when parliament reconvenes next week. "With Andy Coulson our inquiry hit a brick wall of silence and amnesia. There is plenty more in the NYT article, however, which suggests illegal phone-hacking was rife and not limited to just the former royal editor and one private investigator," he said.

"The select committee will, no doubt, want to discuss the NYT article and any further developments or responses. The NYT article further shines further light into this murky affair, in which both News International and the Metropolitan Police have so far been evasive, to say the least."

The Met issued a statement today denying that it failed to pass on key evidence. "The Met does not consider that the issues raised by the New York Times accurately reflect how the investigation was conducted, constitute new evidence, or lead us to change our position", it said.

"The CPS had full access to all the evidence gathered and the final indictment appropriately represented the criminality uncovered.

"The case was the subject of the most careful investigation by very experienced detectives and has been subject to extensive independent scrutiny by the CPS, director of public prosecutions, and the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee.

"The Met has considered whether matters raised by the media or elsewhere constituted new evidence that merited further investigation. We considered then, and we remain of the view, that no new evidence has emerged to justify re-opening this inquiry. Independently, the CPS, leading counsel and the director of public prosecutions reached the same conclusion."

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James Robinson
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Martin Daubney leaves ahead of likely sale of IPC Media-owned lads' mag to Attitude owner Vitality

Loaded editor Martin Daubney has stepped down ahead of the IPC Media-owned lads' mag's likely sale to Attitude owner Vitality.

Daubney, who is leaving immediately, has been editor of Loaded for seven years and overseen several relaunches of the title. But he has been unable to arrest a sales slide that has seen its circulation fall to just 53,591 in the first half of this year.

IPC said there was no update in its negotiations with Vitality, with a sale yet to be confirmed.

Daubney said: "Being editor of Loaded has been a blast. But for me, the time seems right to move on to new opportunities and let someone else take over the reins."

A spokesman for IPC Media added: "Martin Daubney, editor of one of the UK's most iconic men's magazines, has decided to step down from the role."

"The decision, after seven years with the title, follows the recent news that IPC is in discussion with Vitality Publishing about the sale of the brand."

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

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John Plunkett
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Press Complaints Commission confirms it was told two months ago that journalist was under investigation over new claim

The News of the World is facing a fresh allegation of phone hacking against one of its journalists, the Press Complaints Commission confirmed today.

The commission was informed by the paper just over two months ago about the allegation, and the journalist involved has been "suspended from reporting duties".

Stephen Abell, the PCC director, confirmed today that the press regulator was informed by the paper in June "of the existence of the recent allegation of phone-message hacking against the reporter". Abell said that the PCC was prevented from launching its own investigation because the allegation was "the subject of legal action".

The new claim was revealed late yesterday in a New York Times article on the News of the World phone-hacking affair. The paper reported that the News of the World was conducting a new phone-hacking investigation and had suspended a reporter, after a "television personality" had been alerted by her phone company to a "possible unauthorised attempt to access her voicemail" and the number was traced back to a journalist at the paper.

Bill Akass, the News of the World managing editor, confirmed in a response to the New York Times that an internal investigation was under way and that a journalist had been "suspended from reporting duties".

It is understood that the News of the World was first made aware of the phone-hacking claim around Easter this year and that the internal investigation is ongoing.

"A serious allegation has been made about the conduct of one of our reporters. We have followed our internal procedures and the reporter has been suspended from reporting duties, and a very thorough and extensive investigation carried out into that allegation (involving, for example, external forensic specialists)," Akass said.

"The allegation is the subject of litigation and our internal investigation continues in tandem with that, which means I am unable to comment further. If the conclusion of the investigation or the litigation is that the allegation is proven, the reporter will be dismissed for gross misconduct without compensation.

"We have a zero-tolerance approach to any wrong-doing and will take swift and decisive action if we have proof of any wrong-doing."

Abell said: "The PCC was informed by the News of the World in June of the existence of the recent allegation of phone message hacking against the reporter. This is currently the subject of legal action, which has prevented the PCC from becoming formally involved at this stage.

"However, once the legal action has been concluded, the commission will consider the matter further. It was right that the News of the World disclosed the existence of this claim to the PCC, and we will address the issues when it is possible for us to do so. The PCC has made publicly clear on a number of occasions that phone message hacking is deplorable and that view – of course – remains."

The News of the World's editor, Colin Myler told the Commons culture select committee last year that he had introduced new procedures to avoid a repeat of this behaviour. Myler became editor in 2007, when Andy Coulson resigned over the Clive Goodman phone-hacking affair.

Myler told the committee that all staff were ordered to follow the PCC code of conduct and warned that failure to comply could result in disciplinary proceedings. Stricter controls on cash payments and sources were also introduced and all staff had to attend workshops on the PCC code, he added.

The committee called several current and former executives from the News of the World's publisher, News International, including Coulson, last year as part of its inquiry into privacy, press standards and libel.

This fresh round of hearings was prompted by the Guardian's revelation that News International had paid £700,000 to settle a breach of privacy claim from Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, after a private investigator working for the News of the World hacked into his phone.

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Jason Deans
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Specialist publisher announces paid-for iPad app, looking to increase return from digital operations

Future Publishing is to launch a bespoke iPad edition of its gadget magazine T3, buoyed by a sixfold increase in US print sales of the title since the iPad launched in April.

T3: iPad Edition marks the specialist publisher's move into publishing tailored editions of its magazines for tablet devices, following the release of iPhone apps for its Total Film and MacLife titles.

Development of the T3 iPad edition will be led by Future's in-house team and built on the WoodWing Digital Magazine Tool platform, which also hosts the Sports Illustrated iPad app.

The app will showcase exclusive video, 360-degree animation and interactive image galleries. Although T3's print edition is currently hosted by Zinio for digital browsing, the new app represents Future's first bespoke paid-for edition for the Apple iPad.

Nial Ferguson, publishing director for Future's entertainment and tech lifestyle portfolios, said: "The natural synergies between T3 and the iPad create a dream union for both consumers and our commercial partners. Our research tells us that T3 readers are high-spending early-adopters, who already voraciously consuming media on the platform.

"We've worked very hard and liaised with Apple to ensure that T3: iPad Edition will give our readers the quality and authority of the print magazine, combined with the unique interactivity and functionality the iPad platform provides. Early testing among consumers and commercial partners has been very positive."

After posting better-than-expected financial returns for the six months to the end of March, Stevie Spring, chief executive of Future Publishing, told the Guardian that digital publishing represented "more than a quarter" of its revenue in the given time and suggested that there were opportunities to develop its brands further in the space.

"The iPad could be a bubble or it could be a bandwagon," said Spring, reflecting on the significant increase in sales of the magazine since the US launch of Apple's tablet device. Spring said the publisher's existing stock of iPhone apps for its titles, which are a mixture of paid-for and free, were "partly promotional, partly experimental".

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Josh Halliday
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Tony Blair Interview with Andrew Marr about former prime minister's memoirs A Journey attract 9.5% audience share

Andrew Marr's interview with Tony Blair about his memoir A Journey attracted just under 2 million viewers on BBC2 last night, Wednesday 1 September.

The Tony Blair Interview with Andrew Marr was watched by 1.78 million viewers and attracted a 9.5% audience share from 7pm.

Marr's encounter with Blair was head to head with the Channel 4 News Labour leadership debate, with the five candidates questioned in the studio by presenter Jon Snow.

Channel 4 News was watched by 539,000 (2.9%), with a further 55,000 (0.3%) on Channel 4 +1.

Last Wednesday a repeat of natural history documentary Mountain Gorilla had 1.625 million (8%) in the 7pm hour on BBC2, while Channel 4 News attracted 836,000 (4.2%, C4 +1 50,000/0.2%).

ITV1/ITV1 HD's Emmerdale won the 7pm slot as usual, attracting 6.463 million (34.7%), while The One Show had 3.38 million (18.2%) on BBC1/BBC HD. Channel 5's 7pm Five News bulletin was watched by 189,000 (1%).

Five main terrestrial analogue networks

BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel Five (available in all UK homes with TV, except Channel 5, which reaches about 95%)

BBC1

8pm: Waterloo Road (new series) – 4.97 million/22.8%, BBC HD 79,000/0.4%

BBC2

9pm: Alex Higgins: the People's Champion – 2.72 million/12.1%

ITV1/ITV1 HD

9pm: Agatha Christie's Poirot (rpt) – 2.863 million/12.9%

Channel 4

10pm: Ultimate Big Brother – 2.526 million/14.6%, C4+1 183,000/2%

Channel 5

8pm: Emergency Bikers – 896,000/4.1%

All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, HD, +1 or other – unless otherwise stated

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Jason Deans
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Apple chief executive Steve Jobs ups company's social media game with Ping – a music recommendation and sharing feature that has been added to the latest version of iTunes

Apple has ditched the CD in the iTunes logo, upgraded its iPod range and revamped Apple TV, as we learned last night. Chief executive Steve Jobs also upped Apple's social media game with Ping – a music recommendation and sharing feature that has been added to the latest version of iTunes, iTunes 10.

Users with an iTunes Store login (there are 160 million of those worldwide, and they are the engine behind Apple's money-making content machine) can now click the 'Ping' tab in iTunes, create a profile and begin following and being followed by like-minded music fans.

However, initial reviews of Ping have not been flattering. No-one I follow had a good word to say about it:

@Moleitau: OK, Ping is terrible so far *apart* from being able to follow Rick Rubin and find out he digs Arvo Pärt

@Matt B: wow, Ping's personal artist follow recommendations are terrible.

@scobleizer: "The Who." Fail. "Beatles." Fail. "Elton John." Fail. Just what kind of musician IS in Apple's iTunes Ping? @myspace wins.

@DamoBiddles just downloaded iT 10 and 'ping' - monstrous. buggy. evil. Also seems weird being built into an application UI. not great so far.

Photo by striatic on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

A music-orientated social network is a great idea because Apple has a captive and very active audience among its iTunes user base. Privacy settings are simple – share everything with anyone, share a bit with people you approve or don't share at all. Where Twitter is all things to all people, Ping could become the default network for music chatter – gig reviews, album recommendations and so on – one of those niche social networks we thought might take off a few years back.

But there are problems, and not just that recommending Katy Perry and US to everyone is not a good idea. At startup, you can only pick three genres of favourite music; I picked singer-songwriters, blues and alternative. Where would you classify Katy Perry under those? Because that's what I was served up. Those of us used to Last.fm, among others, expect far more from music recommendation.

It is a strange experience using a social network locked within a tab of an already-busy programme. If I wasn't already (occasionally) using iTunes for music there would be zero incentive for me to use Ping at all. And I use iTunes more for apps than music... where's the social network for apps?

Apple's modus operandi seems fundamentally opposed to the nature of social networking, which is all about openness. Without importing existing networks from Twitter or Facebook (inviting friends through Apple Mail is not enough), there's a significant investment of time needed to set Ping up. Now social networking is more mature, there's less appetite for putting in that groundwork – and why should we have to when our networks already exist? Look at the success of Twitter, built on third-party development and off-site interaction. Ping could have pulled in existing intelligence about artists and public profiles of followers. It could have populated user profiles with your most listened-to tracks; a few album covers aren't enough for data-loving music fans. It could have thrown up the most listened to or downloaded tracks through iTunes in real-time. Buy Songkick or something, FFS. Where is everybody?

It's static, detached, and outdated. Perhaps we'll revisit it when it grows up.

A poor effort, Apple.

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Jemima Kiss
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