BBC: Coulson took tabloid cash while Cameron aide

Author: 
Associated Press
Publication Date: 
Tue, 2011-08-23 19:28

Andy Coulson resigned from the now-defunct tabloid early in 2007 after a reporter and a private investigator were jailed for hacking into the voice-mails of royal staff.
Six months later he was hired as communications chief to Cameron, then Britain’s opposition leader. Cameron became prime minister in May 2010.
The BBC, without giving its source, reported that Coulson continued to receive severance pay amounting to several hundred thousand dollars from the paper until the end of 2007, and also kept his healthcare plan and company car.
Coulson denied knowing about phone hacking, but resigned from Downing St. in January after police reopened their inquiry into wrongdoing at the paper.
Last month he was arrested and questioned by detectives investigating allegations the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper illegally eavesdropped on the voice-mail messages of celebrities, politicians and even murder victims.
The new allegation appears to contradict evidence Coulson gave to Parliament in July 2009, when he said he received no other income after being hired by Cameron.
The Conservative Party said “senior party officials have no knowledge of Andy Coulson’s severance arrangements,” but the opposition Labour Party said Cameron had “serious questions to answer.”
Labour lawmaker Tom Watson told the BBC he would ask the Electoral Commission to investigate whether the payments constituted a hidden political donation, which would violate electoral laws.
The newspaper’s parent company, News International, said it would not comment on individuals’ financial arrangements.

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