Ex-Met Police chief denies 'swipe' at prime minister

Sir Paul Stephenson on his resignation: "It was my decision and my decision only"

Former Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has denied taking a "swipe" at the prime minister in his resignation statement.

He said he agreed with David Cameron that the hiring of former News International executive Neil Wallis by the Met was "entirely different" from Mr Cameron's hiring Andy Coulson.
"I made no personal attack on the prime minister," he told MPs.
Sir Paul was giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The MPs also questioned ex-Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who called for News International - at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal - to face up to its responsibilities, and head of press at the Met, Dick Fedorcio.

Sir Paul said in his statement on Sunday: "Unlike Mr Coulson, Mr Wallis had not resigned from the News of the World or, to the best of my knowledge been in any way associated with the original phone-hacking investigation."
Mr Wallis was the News of the World's deputy editor at the time when Andy Coulson was the paper's editor. He was arrested on 14 July on suspicion of conspiracy to unlawfully intercept communications.
Mr Coulson went on to become David Cameron's spokesman, but resigned saying phone-hacking allegations were making it difficult to concentrate on the job.
Sir Paul denied he had been "impugning" Mr Cameron in the statement.
"I was taking no such swipe at the prime minister," Sir Paul said. "I do agree with the prime minister when he says this was entirely different."
He said Mr Coulson resigned because his name was associated with hacking, whereas Mr Wallis had not left his job over hacking.
"I had no reason to doubt Mr Wallis's integrity. I had no reason to associate him with hacking," he added.
'Significant stories' Sir Paul said he asked Mr Yates to take "another look" at the phone-hacking case after Guardian reports of new evidence, to see whether there was any reason for the police to do anything else but added: "I would not have expected material to be reviewed".

John Yates: "I was a post-box for a CV from Mr Wallis' daughter"

During his evidence, it also emerged that 10 members of the Met's Directorate of Public Affairs have worked at News International in the past.
Sir Paul said he had resigned because there were "significant stories about me" and he did not want "the story to be about me, the leader, as opposed to what the people who work for me".
"It was my decision and my decision only... and went against the advice of many colleagues and my wife," he told MPs.
The Met's public affairs director, Mr Fedorcio, was asked questions about Neil Wallis, whom he took on as a PR consultant in 2009 after he submitted "by far the cheapest" bid for the contract.
He told the committee Mr Wallis was not a friend but he had known him professionally since 1997 when Mr Wallis was working at the Sun.
His role was to help out with corporate policy matters while Mr Fedorcio's deputy was off sick and Mr Fedorcio said they never discussed phone hacking.
'Due diligence' Hours before Mr Fedorcio was due to give evidence, it emerged he was to be investigated by police watchdog the IPCC over his links with News International.
Later Mr Yates repeated that in hindsight, he would not have made the same decision as he did in 2009 not to reopen the original phone-hacking investigation.

Dick Fedorcio: "With hindsight, lots of things would have been done differently"

He stressed he had been asked to look at whether there was anything new in allegations made by the Guardian in 2009 adding: "There wasn't."
He added: "We also must remember it's not the police that have failed, it's News International that have failed to provide us with the evidence."
"I do think it's time for others to face up to their responsibility," he added, before naming News International.
He also insisted he had not carried out "due diligence" when Mr Wallis was given the Met contract, and had only sought "assurances" that there was not anything being chased by the Guardian that was going to embarrass "him, me, the commissioner or the Metropolitan Police Service".
He said he accepted he was a friend of Mr Wallis but said they were not "bosom buddies living in each other's houses".
'Entirely sensible' Asked about securing a job at the Met for Mr Wallis's daughter, he said: "I simply acted as a postbox for an application."
He denied having secured a job for her - saying he sent one e-mail on her behalf and he gave only an "equivocal interest" in whether she was employed.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper questioned evidence to the committee by Sir Paul and Mr Yates about the role of David Cameron's chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn.
Sir Paul suggested he had not told the prime minister about the Met employing Neil Wallis when his name became linked to phone hacking allegations and he had to consider whether he wanted to share "operational information" that might "open up some charge of impropriety" because of Mr Cameron's connection with Mr Coulson.
He added: "Actually a senior official at Number 10 guided us that actually we should not compromise the prime minister, and it seems to me to be entirely sensible."
Later Mr Yates said he had made an offer to a "senior official in No 10" - who he named as Mr Llewellyn - to brief him on the "nuances around police language" - particularly "scoping exercise" and "assessment", following a report in the New York Times.
He added: "That offer was properly and understandably rejected."
Ms Cooper said the remarks were "astonishing".
"This shows that David Cameron's misjudgement in appointing Andy Coulson created serious problems at the heart of the government, forcing senior Downing Street officials and the head of the Metropolitan Police to keep important information from the elected prime minister, because of concerns that he was or could become compromised."
Downing Street has since released emails between Mr Yates and Mr Llewellyn - Mr Yates does not mention phone hacking but refers to "other matters that have caught my attention this week" - Mr Llewellyn asks him not to raise the issue with the PM, adding: "We will want to be able to be entirely clear, for your sake and ours, that we have not been in contact with you about this subject."
Asked why he had not been informed about Mr Wallis, Mr Cameron said: "It wouldn't be normal for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to share a whole range of operational detail about particular operations with the prime minister. I wouldn't expect him to do that."

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