Questions for Boris on Hackgate

By Tom Miller / @tommilleruk

Today the London Assembly meets to question Boris Johnson. I hope they show they are willing to press Johnson hard and hold him to account for his role in Hackgate.

It has become clear over the last week that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who has a key-oversight role with the Metropolitan Police Service, has serious questions to answer about his handling of the phone-hacking scandal.

Confronted with the Guardian’s revelation of the phone-hacking allegations he called them ‘codswallop cooked up the Labour party.’ He now looks like a bit of a berk. His response here is magnificent.

No doubt he will try to hide behind the contortions of John Yates.

However, it is clear that Johnson’s knee-jerk position was to go into a partisan defence of his party and News International. The scale of the hacking scandal shows how foolish Johnson was to smear the Guardian’s reports as ‘cooked up by Labour’ and a ‘song and dance about nothing.’

The hacking of the phones of murder victims, the families of British soldiers, and the families of the victims of the July 7th bombings is not a ‘song and dance about nothing.’ His remarks may have been made in the past, but he still won’t apologise, though the proceeds of his partisan foolishness are grossly insensitive.

This week I wrote to the Greater London Authority’s monitoring officer with the following Freedom of Information request:

“I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act of 2000 to ask for details of all occasions since May 2008 on which the Mayor Boris Johnson or other GLA officers have met Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks/Wade or any other employees of News International, including details of attendees, all subjects discussed, all briefing material prepared for the meetings, all emails and other correspondence relating to meetings, minutes or notes of meetings and copies of all correspondence and emails between the GLA and its officers and News International directors and employees or relating to any discussions on any topics with News International or anything else related to News International.

“I write on the same basis for the same in relation to the GLA group of functional bodies, in particular Transport for London and the LDA, for copies of all correspondence and emails between TfL/LDA and News International directors and employees or relating to any discussions on any topics with News International or anything else related to News International.

“Also on the same basis, the FOI Act of 2000 for all occasions since May 2008 on which the Mayor Boris Johnson has met or spoken to Charlie Brooks, now husband of Rebekah Brooks.”

Readers may wonder why I have asked the final question under the Act. But Boris Johnson appears to have been at Eton with Brooks – so we need to check all avenues on this matter.

It is to be hoped that the London Assembly today will resolve to investigate Boris Johnson, the conduct of his administration (including his deputy mayor for policing Kit Malthouse) and his close relationship with News International during this scandal.

That’s what they’re paid for.

And if they do not, Freedom of Information requests, independent campaigning and media pressure should be directed to scrutinise this Conservative Mayor.