Hacked-Off

****This article was accurate at the time of writing – 26 July 2011****

A record number of constituents have been in touch about the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed the now closed News of the World and the entire News International Empire.

I was appalled by the revelations, these were not just invasions of privacy, they were violations of victims and their families at the hour of their greatest distress.

The idea that anybody could hack into the voicemails of Milly Dowler, or those of the families of our fallen servicemen and women, is simply disgraceful.

We all know there’s tough competition in the newspaper industry. That can be healthy. But too often it now appears it also led newspapers to lose touch with the British public’s sense of decency.

That’s why I think Ed Miliband was speaking for a lot of people when he called for change so that, yes, we have a free press – but also a trusted press.

Ed called for a judge-led inquiry into phone hacking – and David Cameron has agreed. I look forward to that inquiry getting to the truth of who was hacked and to people being charged.

It has been an extraordinary couple of weeks.  As new revelations emerged day by day, proceedings in the House of Commons moved extremely quickly.

Rupert Murdoch withdrew his bid for BSkyB after other parties followed Labour’s lead and supported our motion calling on him to do so and he and his son James along with News International’s former Chief Executive faced questions from MPs during a Culture Committee hearing. 

This is a victory for all the people up and down the country who have been appalled by the revelations of the phone hacking scandal. 

However, this is not the end of the story – the scandal is now headed stateside, with politicians in the US demanding to know if their phones have been hacked.

It is important that we get this right – the eyes of the world are upon us.