Scottish Government phones ‘were hacked’ says Willie Rennie

PHONES belonging to the Scottish Government were hacked by the media during a period of press intrusion which saw the voicemail messages of celebrities and politicians targeted, the Scottish Lib Dem leader has claimed.

Willie Rennie said he was concerned a breach had taken place which may have had a “serious impact” on Scotland’s national security.

He made the claim after Scotland’s most senior civil servant, Sir Peter Housden, refused to reveal details of whether the government had been a target of journalists acting illegally to obtain information.

Mr Rennie had written to Sir Peter in May expressing disappointment that First Minister Alex Salmond had failed to answer questions over phone hacking ahead of his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.

He said failure to answer the questions had shown “contempt” for the Scottish Parliament, adding the public had the right to know whether the Scottish Government had been the victim of phone hacking.

The Lib Dems said Mr Rennie had written to Sir Peter, permanent secretary to the Scottish Government, to ask whether it had been specifically targeted by tabloid newspapers.

However, in his response, Sir Peter said he was unable to disclose the information while the Leveson Inquiry and Strathclyde Police’s Operation Rubicon were ongoing.

Mr Rennie said: “It seems clear to me that Scottish Government phones have been hacked. Sir Peter could easily have told me that the Scottish Government had not become a victim. Telling me nothing had happened would not have jeopardised any police investigation – but he didn’t.

“If the phones have been hacked it may have had a serious impact on national security or commercial confidentiality.

“Parliament is perfectly capable of handling such information without compromising any police investigation. In fact, Parliament has a responsibility and duty if such a breach has occurred.

“Others, including an MSP, have been open about being hacked. Sir Peter needs to explain why the government can’t be open too.”

In his response to Mr Rennie, Sir Peter said providing details on phone hacking relating to the Scottish Government would undermine Leveson or Operation Rubicon, Strathclyde Police’s investigation into phone hacking and aspects of the evidence presented during the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial.

Sir Peter wrote: “As I think you understand, there is an over-riding need not to compromise the work of the Leveson Inquiry. Lord Justice Leveson made it explicit in a public address on 15 May that a public debate on the matter of a witness’ evidence may make it difficult or even impossible for the inquiry to take evidence from that witness in a fair and impartial manner.

“In addition, the question of whether any Scottish Government telephones have been hacked falls squarely within the remit of Operation Rubicon. Operation Rubicon is an ongoing investigation in which, for operational reasons, disclosure of information has been highly restricted.

“Even the fact of whether Scottish Government telephones have been hacked has the potential to compromise the investigation.”

Last week, during his appearance before the Leveson Inquiry, the First Minister was asked whether his phone had been hacked. He replied by saying he had not been told this was the case, but said the Observer newspaper had attempted to hack into his bank details, a claim which the newspaper said it could find no evidence of.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “As was made clear to Mr Rennie, the question of whether any Scottish Government telephones have been hacked falls squarely within the remit of Operation Rubicon.”