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Clive Goodman: The good man who wrote The Letter

News International’s controversial decision to alter a critical letter submitted to a parliamentary inquiry was not directly demanded by the police, the Daily Telegraph can reveal... The company has been accused of a cover-up after it gave MPs a significantly redacted version of a letter, written by Clive Goodman, the former royal editor at the News of the World... James Murdoch, the chairman of News International, also faced calls to resign over the scandal.  

The Goodman letter, sent four years ago, alleges that a secret deal was agreed in which he would keep his job if he did not “implicate” other members of the tabloid paper’s staff. He also alleged that editors at the tabloid, including Andy Coulson, supported phone hacking.

On Tuesday News International claimed that the document was altered at the request of Scotland Yard. However, their explanation came under scrutiny after a much fuller version of the same letter was released by law firm Harbottle & Lewis.

The letter submitted by Mr Murdoch to the Common’s media committee removed allegations that Mr Coulson “supported” phone hacking and that it was “widely discussed” at editorial conferences and references to the secret deal.  

Deep Throat on the trail of The Letter

The Daily Telegraph has learned that while Scotland Yard asked for names to be redacted to preserve the integrity of its ongoing investigation, it did not prescribe any other alterations.

It means that the decision remove entire paragraphs of the letter was taken solely by News International.