UK lawmakers to debate phone hacking allegations

LONDON

British lawmakers will hold a debate on allegations that a tabloid illegally eavesdropped on politicians and celebrities, the speaker of the House of Commons said Wednesday.

The legislators will discuss practices at the News of the World newspaper, as police consider reopening an inquiry into the hacking of phone voicemail messages by the newspaper after ex-staff came forward to make new allegations.

Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director Andy Coulson -- the newspaper's former editor -- is expected to meet with investigators amid claims that he oversaw a culture of phone tapping at the paper.

Coulson quit News of the World in 2007 after the tabloid's royal reporter was convicted of hacking phone voicemail messages left for royal officials, including some from Princes William and Harry. Coulson has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, or knowing that hacking cell phones was widespread among his former staff.

In an article published Sunday, the New York Times quoted a former reporter, Sean Hoare, and other unnamed ex-staff as claiming that Coulson had in fact been aware of the practice.

The News of the World has accused the New York Times of being motivated by commercial rivalry. The tabloid is owned by News International Ltd., a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

The Guardian newspaper in Britain quoted another former journalist at the tabloid, Paul McMullan, as saying he personally commissioned private investigators who gathered confidential information from phone companies and government databases. McMullan told The Guardian in its Thursday edition that Coulson was well aware of the practice.

A cross-party parliamentary committee will look into the issue Thursday, House of Commons speaker John Bercow said. Comments made in House debates are exempt from libel laws, meaning legislators will be able to speak freely.