British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday launched a robust defence of his staff's handling of the scandal in Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper empire News International.

In the opening statement of what became a rowdy debate, Prime Minister Cameron told the House of Commons that his Downing Street staff had done nothing wrong in connection with the affair.

"Number 10 has now published the full email exchange between my chief-of-staff and John Yates and it shows my staff behaved entirely properly," Cameron said. He added that he had not broken any parliamentary rules on ministers' behavior in his dealings with executives from Murdoch’s News Corporation.

Former Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner John Yates announced his resignation on Monday after being informed that he would be suspended pending an inquiry into his relationship with Neil Wallis, a former deputy editor at the now-defunct News of the World, the newspaper at the centre of the scandal.

Emergency debate

Cameron returned to the country late on Tuesday to address the House of Commons after cutting short an African trip. Parliamentarians grilled the prime minister in particular about his decision to employ former News of the World editor Andy Coulson.

Coulson resigned from his post at the News of the World in 2007 after two of the tabloid's employees were jailed for phone-hacking. Cameron, who was leader of the opposition at the time, then hired Coulson as his communications chief. Cameron said it was his decision and he defended it.

Coulson resigned from his Downing Street post just days before police launched a new investigation into phone-hacking at the paper this January. Earlier this month Coulson was rearrested for questioning but subsequently freed on bail.

During Wednesday’s emergency session of Parliament, the prime minister said that Coulson was presumed innocent until proved guilty.

Not taking the blame

Robert Murdoch used an appearance at a committee looking into the latest allegations of phone hacking on Tuesday to apologize for the scandal but denied any wrongdoing.

Murdoch, 80, began the hearing by describing it as "the most humble day of my life," and ended it with an apology.

"I would like all the victims of phone-hacking to know how completely and deeply sorry I am," said Murdoch, who said he shut down the News of the World after learning of the depth of the latest scandal.

Earlier, Murdoch had met with the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly tapped by the News of the World.

When asked by a committee member whether he thought he should resign, Murdoch replied that certain unnamed people in the company "betrayed the company and me and it's for them to pay."

Investigation continues

Police are currently investigating the alleged hacking of phone messages of as many as 4,000 people.

The committee also heard from Murdoch's son James, 38, who is in charge of News Corporation's European operations. He apologized for any wrongdoing and sought to defend the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, who later appeared before the committee.

Brooks, for her part, apologized for what she described as "pretty horrific and abhorrent" allegations. She also denied any knowledge of phone hacking at the News of the World until last year, when documents related to the allegations were provided by police.

She also denied having personally paid for or authorizing any payment to police for information.

"In my experience of dealing with the police, the information they give to newspapers comes free of charge," she told the committee.

Meanwhile, a separate committee criticized both the police and former staff of the News of the World over the 2005/6 phone-hacking investigation.

"There has been a catalogue of failures by the Metropolitan Police, and deliberate attempts by News International to thwart the various investigations," said the chair of the Home Affairs Committee Keith Vaz.

A report issued by the committee points the finger in particular at former assistant police commissioners John Yates and Andy Hayman.

It describes as "very poor" Yates' 2009 review of the investigation, in which he found that there was no need to reopen the investigation. It accuses Hayman, who got a job as a columnist for another News International paper, the Times, just two months after leaving the police force, of "deliberate prevarication."

Author: Chuck Penfold (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Ben Knight