The publisher of the Sun has paid an (undisclosed) substantial sum to Simon Hughes over phone hacking. According to The Guardian:
Hughes claimed “he had been the victim of unlawful information gathering by various journalists and executives at the Sun” who were intent on publishing details of his past relationships with men.
…
Speaking outside the court, Hughes said: “It went to the top in the Sun – senior editorial people, senior people at the top were clearly involved.”
Asked if he thought Rebekah Brooks, who was editor of the Sun in 2006, knew about how his private information had been obtained, Hughes said: “I have been very clear that we have not named names, but it is clear from all I have seen that it went to the top of the Sun. I think I will have to leave you to draw your own conclusions about that.”
…
The former MP, who describes himself as bisexual, said he now believes this “private and sensitive information was obtained through unlawful information-gathering techniques and was used with the knowledge and approval of key senior executives at the newspaper”.
You can read the full article here.
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2 Comments
Good for him!
The way in which Simon was effectively outed by the Sun was utterly disgraceful. He was acting under duress when he was forced to give an interview making admissions about his sexual orientation in a newspaper which had been notably homophobic. The timing of this, based on information the newspaper has about his telephone calls, was all based on the fact that he was a candidate for the leadership of the party following Charles Kennedy’s resignation. I was Chief Executive and Acting Returning Officer for that election and I have no doubt that the Sun’s actions ended his prospect of winning. I was proud to give him personal support at the time and do my best to help protect him, especially as he was President of the party. The paper’s actions were a very strong example of serious abuse of power by elements of the media.