My phone was hacked 28 times, says Jowell

Hackers illegally tapped a mobile phone belonging to Tessa Jowell at least 28 times while she was a serving cabinet minister, it emerged last night.

Until now, Ms Jowell, the former Culture Secretary, has not spoken publicly about the phone-tapping scandal.

The scale of the hacking of a serving Cabinet minister’s telephone was uncovered by detectives who had been looking into the tapping of Prince Harry’s mobile phone.
The offence was traced to a private detective hired by a reporter from the News of the World, which was edited then by Andy Coulson, who now works in Downing Street as David Cameron’s chief spin doctor.

Further revelations yesterday placed pressure on Mr Coulson – and raised questions about Mr Cameron’s judgement in appointing him as Downing Street’s £140,000-a-year Director of Communications.

Lawyers say that they are working for “dozens” of celebrities, politicians and journalists who would like to sue the News of the World after being told that they may also have had their voicemail messages illegally intercepted.

Ms Jowell told The Independent yesterday: “I know I was tapped 28 times by May 2006 because the police told me. I had a call when I was on holiday in August 2006 from the Met to say that I had been tapped, but they asked me to do nothing except increase the security on my phone.

“Later, they came back to me and said I wouldn’t be need to be a witness in this case. I also had a call from Vodafone about improving security.”

Ms Jowell spoke out as political pressure increased for an investigation to be reopened into the scandal. A police investigation four years ago led to the royal editor of the News of the World, Clive Goodman, and a private detective, Glenn Mulcaire, being jailed for hacking into telephones used by Prince Harry, Prince William, and members of the Palace staff.

Files seized by the police when they raided Mulcaire’s home contained 4,332 names, 2,978 mobile numbers and 91 PIN numbers used to access mobile phone voicemail messages, but most of the potential victims of his activities were not warned of the risk that they had been tapped – unlike Ms Jowell. The police say that “at least” 11 people had their voicemails hacked by Mulcaire, eight of whom were named in the indictment. They have not given a figure for the precise total.

Labour jumped on the scandal, which was revived by fresh allegations published in the New York Times suggesting that phone-tapping by News of the World journalists was much more widespread than previously claimed, and that Mr Coulson knew it was going on – something he denies.

The former Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, announced that he will exercise his right as a former minister to go back to the Home Office to review the files on the case.

He also said that the Home Secretary, Theresa May, should consider taking any investigation out of the hands of the Metropolitan Police – accused of having too cosy a relationship with the tabloid paper, something it denies – and handing it over to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

And the former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, said he will seek a judicial review to find out whether reports that his phone was tapped are true. Last year, the deputy head of Scotland Yard, John Yates, said a careful examination by senior detectives had throw up “no evidence” that Lord Prescott’s was a victim of phone tapping.

Conservative MPs are reluctant to speak publicly about a case involving a man who is constantly at David Cameron’s right hand, but one senior figure in the party said that the new revelations were causing unease across the party, particularly as to whether the Prime Minister had been wise to keep Mr Coulson on his staff. “I’m not saying anything more about it this week,” he said. “But next week – perhaps.”

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