Police are to investigate allegations published in The Guardian that The News of the World has hacked into the phones of "thousands" of public figures.
The paper is accused of tapping the phones of politicians, including Former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and government minister Tessa Jowell, as well as celebrity publicist Max Cliford and actress and model Elle Macpherson.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has ordered an investigation into the claims that the paper had paid private investigators to hack into "two or three thousand" people's phones. Sir Paul said that he wished to "establish the facts" and has said that Assistant Commissioner John Yates would look into the detail of the claims.
In a statement to the commons Home Office Minister David Hanson said that "serious allegations" had been made and that the Home Secretary had spoken to the Met Commissioner. He added that the claims "deserve an examination. The Metropolitan Police this afternoon will be examining those allegations. I will report back to the House in due course.".
The guardian says that the details of the 'widespread' phone tapping emerged during a court case involving Professional Footballers' Association head, Gordon Taylor, and The News of the World. But the paper says that the police and the High Court suppressed the release of information on further phone tapping by The News of the World.
There have also been claims that newspapers belonging to Rupert Murdoch's News Group, part of News Corporation, have paid out more than £1 million to settle claims of it's journalist using criminal methods.
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