Hacking scandal now includes Tony Blair

Published on 9 June 2011 at 10:58

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“Pressure grows on Met [Metropolitan Police] to expand hacking enquiry,” headlines the Guardian, after parliament heard claims that senior political and public figures were targeted by a notorious private investigator working for Rupert Murdoch’s News International media group. It was already understood that private eye Jonathan Rees gathered information on celebrities using illicit surveillance techniques, which allegedly included burglary, computer hacking and false representation. But according to the Guardian, Rees’ victims now also include new royal family member Kate Middleton, MI6 agents who had infiltrated the Provisional IRA, and high-ranking politicians, including former PM Tony Blair while he was still in office. The police have been investigating phone hacking of celebrities by News International since January, but the “hundreds of thousands of documents” the Met has gathered on Rees’ activity could prove to be the most explosive yet. Speaking in the House of Commons, a Labour MP said - "Prime minister, powerful forces are attempting a cover-up."

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