‘Arrested editor worked for us’ police admit
By politics.co.uk staff
Police have admitted that a News of the World editor arrested earlier over phone-hacking recently provided communication for the Met.
Neil Wallis, former executive editor of the News of the World, was arrested early this morning by officers from Operation Weeting, the current investigation into phone-hacking.
It was later revealed that his firm, Chamy Media, provided "strategic communication advice", including speech writing and public relations, to the Met.
"In line with procurement procedures, three relevant companies were invited to provide costings for this service on the basis of two days per month," the Met said in a statement.
"Chamy Media were appointed as they were significantly cheaper than the others. The contract ran from October 2009 until September 2010, when it was terminated by mutual consent."
The connection is the last thing Scotland Yard wants, after it has had to field allegations of conflict of interest since the phone-hacking scandal broke.
The man in charge of the original investigation, Andy Hayman, later took a column for the Murdoch-owned Times newspaper and admits meeting News International figures at least once during the operation.
Mr Wallis was released from custody from a west London station in the afternoon.
He edited the News of the World from 2007 to 2009, after a stint as deputy editor of the Sun.
