LONDON — Britain’s tabloid phone-hacking scandal enveloped the London police force Monday with the rapid-fire resignations of two top officers and claims of possible illegal eavesdropping, bribery and collusion. U.K. officials immediately vowed to investigate.
Prime Minister David Cameron, feeling the political heat from his own close ties to individuals within Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, cut short his trip to Africa and called an emergency session of Parliament for Wednesday so he could address lawmakers on the scandal.
U.K. lawmakers on Tuesday will grill Mr. Murdoch, his son, James, and Rebekah Brooks, the ousted chief executive of Mr. Murdoch’s U.K. newspaper arm, in a widely anticipated televised public hearing on the scandal.
Lawmakers hope to learn more about the scale of phone hacking by U.K. journalists and who — if anyone — in Mr. Murdoch’s empire was aware of what allegedly took place at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
One of the first voices to blow the whistle on the phone hacking — former News of the World journalist Sean Hoare — was found dead Monday in Watford, about 25 miles northwest of London. Police said the death was being treated as unexplained but was not considered suspicious, according to Britain’s Press Association.
Mr. Hoare was quoted by the New York Times saying that phone hacking — listening to the voice mail of celebrities, politicians, other journalists or even murder victims — was widely used and even encouraged at the News of the World under then-editor Andy Coulson.
Mr. Coulson — who most recently served as Mr. Cameron’s communications chief — was arrested as part of the widening investigation into phone hacking and police corruption.
The crisis also has triggered upheaval in the upper ranks of Britain’s police.
Monday’s resignation of Assistant Commissioner John Yates — Scotland Yard’s top anti-terrorist officer — followed that Sunday of police chief Paul Stephenson — both for links to an arrested former executive from Mr. Murdoch’s shuttered News of the World tabloid.
The scandal over Murdoch journalists hacking into cellphones for scoops and paying police for information has knocked billions off the value of Murdoch’s News Corp.
The media baron already was forced to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World tabloid, accept the resignations of top deputies in Britain and in the U.S., and abandon his dream of taking full control of a lucrative satellite broadcaster, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
Britain’s police watchdog on Monday said it had received allegations of potential wrongdoing in connection with phone hacking against four senior officers — Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Yates and two former senior officers.
One of the claims is that Mr. Yates inappropriately helped get a job for the daughter of former News of the World editor Neil Wallis, one of 10 people arrested in the scandal.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was looking into the claims.
Mr. Yates insisted he had done nothing wrong. “I have acted with complete integrity,” he said. “My conscience is clear.”
But the government quickly announced an inquiry into police-media relations and corruption.
London’s police force is also under intense pressure to explain why its original hacking investigation failed to find evidence to prosecute anyone other than a single reporter and a private investigator.
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