Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell said he was 'genuinely shocked' to discover that his evidence had been leaked

Credit: Fiona Hanson/PA

The Leveson inquiry has summoned blogger Paul Staines after evidence submitted to the inquiry by former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell was leaked online.

Staines, who goes by the pseudonym Guido Fawkes and is behind political blog Order-Order, published a link to the 16-page document on his site yesterday and highlighted claims by Campbell that his former newspaper the Mirror may have hacked phone messages to obtain information about Cherie Blair while she was living in Downing Street.

In a statement, the inquiry said it was "extremely concerned" about the leak on Staines' website.

"The website asserts that this statement was obtained by 'legal means' but Lord Justice Leveson will be enquiring further into this claim and Mr Paul Staines will be required to give evidence."

Campbell's evidence – which the inquiry said had been amended slightly from the leaked version – will now be published on its website today, rather than on Wednesday following the beginning of his appearance.

The former spin doctor and Daily Mirror political editor said on Twitter that he was "genuinely shocked someone has seen fit to leak my statement".

His evidence also appears to have been published on the blog of Labour MP Tom Watson, who has led the political charge against phone hacking as a member of the culture, media, and sport select committee investigating the scandal.

The statement was quickly removed from Watson's blog, but a cached page remains available online.

Campbell admits in his statement that he has "no evidence" that Cherie Blair's phone was hacked, but says that stories that appeared in the newspaper "
often involved details of where Cherie was going, the kind of thing routinely discussed on phones when planning visits". He adds that he has "never understood" how the Mirror learned of Blair's pregnancy, which "only a tiny number of people in Downing Street" knew about at the time.

Daily Mirror publisher Trinity Mirror has consistently denied any involvement with hacking, reiterating today: "All our journalists work within the criminal law and the Press Complaints Commission's code of conduct."

Campbell is due to give evidence at the inquiry on Wednesday. It has not yet been confirmed when Staines will be summoned.

Appearing at the inquiry today will be Chris Jefferies, who was arrested on suspicion of murdering Bristol architect Joanna Yeates but later released and sued several newspapers over defamatory coverage of his arrest. The inquiry will also hear from Welsh singer Charlotte Church and former TV presenter Anne Diamond.

Tomorrow will see a number of journalists and former journalists give evidence. Guardian reporter Nick Davies, who is credited for many of the revelations that led to the phone hacking scandal, will testify alongside
former News of the World deputy features editor Paul McMullan and former Daily Star reporter Richard Peppiatt.

Both McMullan and Peppiatt have spoken out about unethical and illegal practices at their former newspapers.

Last week the inquiry heard from Gerry and Kate McCann and Sally and Bob Dowler, as well as celebrities Hugh Grant, Steve Coogan, Sienna Miller and JK Rowling.

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