Industry watchdog calls for inquiry into News of the World phone hacking allegations

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The Media Standards Trust has backed calls for a judicial inquiry into allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World. The New York Times yesterday published online a report investigating past cases of alleged hacking based on interviews with former reporters and editors, who claimed such acts were "pervasive" at the tabloid.

Former News of the World journalist Sean Hoare also accused Andy Coulson, former editor of the paper and now director of communications for Downing Street, of "actively encouraging" him to continue hacking into celebrity mobile messages. Coulson has always denied knowledge of the practice.

The report also refers to a new case from this year, currently under investigation, involving a reporter who was reportedly traced back to unauthorised attempts to access the voicemail of a female television personality.

The tabloid has confirmed that the journalist has been suspended while they carry out a "thorough" investigation. An external party is also taking legal action in relation to the accusations.

MP Tom Watson, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, which previously investigated accusations of phone tapping at the tabloid , wrote to deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday saying the report constituted "clear grounds for a judicial review", according to a release sent out by the Media Standards Trust.

The Trust added that it "wholeheartedly agrees" with the call for an official inquiry and also supports Watson's calls for the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate allegations of collusion.

"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," the MST said in a statement.

"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."

It added that in 2009 the committee had also called for the press to appoint an independent figure to conduct a "lengthy and detailed investigation" following revelations by the Guardian that NGN had paid out more than £1m in legal settlements . But this recommendation was not taken any further, it says.

"We believe strongly that it is critical for all the facts surrounding this issue to be made public," Sir David Bell, chair of the MST said in the release. "In view of what has happened we believe that a judicial inquiry must be the right way forward and that it should begin at once."

The Press Complaints Commission today confirmed to Journalism.co.uk that it would be considering the matter of the most recent case against a News of the World journalist further once ongoing legal action has been concluded. It added that the Commission was already aware of the allegation which was made in June.

"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," Stephen Abell director of the PCC said in a statement. "This is currently the subject of legal action, which has prevented the PCC from becoming formally involved at this stage."

"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," he added. "The PCC has made publicly clear on a number of occasions that phone message hacking is deplorable and that view - of course - remains."

Lord John Prescott has also

repeated calls he made in 2009

for an official inquiry into the allegations in an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning, following fears he himself targeted by phone tappers, .

The former deputy Prime Minister claims he has been told by the police in the past that his name did appear on "a list" but that his messages were not intercepted. But he says he later found out that News International had paid a reporter for information about him and wanted clarification.

He says he is now waiting for a response from the Metropolitan police adding that if they refuse to give him the information within a week he will seek a judicial review.

"The only way the truth can come out...is really to have it properly investigated and clearly have a judicial review, I think it demands at least that," he told the BBC.