London Daily

Focus on the big picture.

I was targeted by Mirror investigators - Campbell

I was targeted by Mirror investigators - Campbell

Alastair Campbell has told the High Court he and his partner were targeted by private investigators working for the publisher of the Daily Mirror.
In his evidence on Tuesday, he accused the newspaper's former editor Piers Morgan of "two-faced conduct".

Tony Blair's former spin doctor was giving evidence in London on Tuesday as part of a trial brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

MGN contests claims it gathered information through unlawful means.

The High Court is hearing "representative" cases brought by the Duke of Sussex and others and concerns stories dating back, in some cases, more than 20 years.

The claimants allege information was gathered via unlawful methods including phone hacking, securing information through deception, and journalists using private investigators to trick others into handing over confidential information about the targets.

The claimants believe their private and confidential information was obtained by journalists from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People newspapers.

Prior to 1994, Mr Campbell had been a journalist for the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror.

In a written witness statement, he said he had been shown three documents by the claimants' legal team, dating from when he was chief press secretary in Downing Street, a role he held between 1997 and 2000.

Two of the documents were from invoices by private investigation firm Southern Investigations, both addressed to then-Daily Mirror investigations editor Gary Jones, and the third was a confidential hand-written note which contained numbers for financial accounts held by Mr Campbell and his partner Fiona Millar, he said.

In his statement he said the "fact that MGN unlawfully obtained such private and personal financial information" about himself and his partner was "extremely troubling".

"The fact that they did not publish the information they obtained in no way minimises this view," he said.

Mr Campbell said he believed the inquiries into his affairs related to a story involving the finances of Labour grandee Peter Mandelson, published on Christmas Eve in 1998.

He said he had also seen documents which indicated that a "blagger" sent Lord Mandelson's private banking and mortgage details to Southern Investigations, who sent them on to Gary Jones, now editor of the Daily Express, on December 23 of that year.

"As a result, I believe that the Daily Mirror decided, at the time of the Mandelson story, to fish into my bank and mortgage affairs in the hope that they too would reveal something they considered newsworthy," he said.

In his witness statement, he said he believed Mr Morgan was aware of such conduct.

"I have read the section of Piers Morgan's memoirs, The Insider, dealing with late December 1998 and I can now see that Mr Morgan does not set out truthfully how he obtained the information on Mr Mandelson," he said.

He said that Mr Morgan purported "to be a real ally of the prime minister and the Labour government, while all the time he and his senior team were using illegal means to find stories designed to destabilise that government".

Mr Campbell said this "compounds the anger I feel about this", as did "the fact that this conduct has been emphatically denied, by Mr Morgan and his colleagues, for so long".

"Fiona and I are shocked and, frankly, appalled at this intrusion into our privacy by the Daily Mirror," the statement said.

"I find it very hard to believe that any editor, especially one as hands-on as Mr Morgan, would not have known and demanded to know where the big stories were coming from.

"Nor do I believe that people in senior positions in government with access to highly sensitive information and with obvious security concerns would have been targeted in this way without the editor knowing and sanctioning such methods."
Newsletter

Related Articles

London Daily
0:00
0:00
Close
Apple Launches AI Features on Select iPhones
JP Morgan Sued Customers Over Viral Cheque Fraud Scheme
King Charles to Continue Global Tours Despite Cancer Diagnosis
Venice Extends Tourist Entry Fee Program to 2025
Tommy Robinson Charged Under Terrorism Act for Phone Offence
Plans to Increase Employers' National Insurance Announced
Washington Post Editor-at-Large Robert Kagan has RESIGNED after owner Jeff Bezos BARRED the endorsement of Kamala Harris.
Massive Theft of Artisan Cheddar from Neal’s Yard Dairy
US Man Charged with Murder of Co-Worker over Breaks
Carbon Monoxide Incident Claims Lives at UK Care Home
Birmingham Airport Evacuated Due to Suspicious Vehicle
Former US President Barack Obama raps the lyrics to Eminem's ‘Lose Yourself’ after the rapper introduces him at a Kamala Harris rally in Detroit
KYIV URGES NORTH KOREAN TROOPS IN UKRAINE TO SURRENDER
Ofcom Identifies Link Between Social Media Posts and UK Unrest
Russian Boxer Receives Lifetime Ban for Illegal Move in Boxing Debut
Biden Labels Trump a Threat to Democracy
McDonald's Linked to E. coli Outbreak Leading to One Death
Teacher Enoch Burke arrested at Wilson’s Hospital School in Ireland after refusing to endorse and affirm transgender ideology.
FBI Investigates Leak of US Intelligence on Israeli Strike Plans
Israeli Airstrike Targets Hezbollah's Financial Resources
China’s Baidu is revolutionizing transportation with its robotaxi service
Angela Rayner Secures Permanent Seat on UK National Security Council
Russian Ambassador Claims UK's Proxy War in Ukraine
Doctor Advocates for Assisted Dying Law Reform
Ruth Davis Appointed as UK’s First Nature Envoy
Pressure Mounts on Starmer to Discuss Reparations at Commonwealth Summit
James Cleverly’s Costly In-Flight Catering for Government Trips
AI Regulation Takes Center Stage in 2024 US Presidential Campaign
NASA Study Explores Potential Microbial Life Beneath Mars' Ice
Cats: The Liquid-Like Pets
Netanyahu Condemns Alleged Hezbollah Assassination Attempt
Liam Payne's Tragic Death: Tributes Pour In
Cuba's Power Struggles: Nationwide Blackout Strikes Again
Xi Jinping Urges Troops to Prepare for Conflict Amid Taiwan Drills
Farage Supported by US PR Team Linked to Steve Bannon
Controversy Over MP's Comments on Female Candidate's Family Responsibilities
Highlights from the Conservative Leadership Contest TV Debate
Childminder Jailed for Inciting Racial Hatred After Southport Attack
NHS England's Repair Bill Soars to Almost £14 Billion
Russia Accused of Using Incendiary Devices to Disrupt Western Confidence
Culture Wars: 'A Dog Whistle to Attack the Right', Says Badenoch
Virtual Reality and Advanced Technologies in Combating Cocaine Addiction
Chancellor Rachel Reeves Assembles Taskforce to Safeguard Financial Stability Amid Increased Borrowing Plans
RAF Typhoon Intercepts Air India Flight After Bomb Threat
Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar Killed in Israeli Operation
Fruit Fly Gut Hormone Study Sheds Light on Human Longevity
Tragic Loss: Liam Payne's Passing in Buenos Aires
Liam Payne's Tragic Death in Buenos Aires
Trump Criticizes Zelensky for Role in Ukraine-Russia War
Yahya Sinwar’s Death Marks Pivotal Moment in Gaza War
×