Hugh Grant calls for police investigation into sun owner

Hugh Grant has joined the chorus calling for a police investigation into News Group (NGN) newspaper crime following this week’s settlement and apology with Prince Harry.

Appearing on the BBC Today This morning the programme, star and BAFTA board director of the hacked campaign group said the ‘purpose’ of Harry’s original case and Grant’s 2024 case against NGN had been to trigger a “new criminal investigation” against NGN, but both had fallen against the legal system of the British civil courts.

He said the work had not been done “by any means” since Harry’s settlement, coming after Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne said the prince and fellow plaintiff Tom Watson “join the others to call on the police and Parliament to investigate not only the illegal activity now finally now finally now admitted (by NGN), but the perjury and cover-ups along the way. »

Harry’s eight-figure settlement came several months later notting hill Star Grant has settled a privacy claim against NGN. At the time, Grant said he could have faced a bill of up to £10 million ($12.3 million) even if he had won due to a quirk of the British legal system .

After Ngn settled with Harry this week, the company issued an apology and for the first time admitted to criminal activity at The sunalthough the group immediately pointed out that this was conducted by “private investigators, not journalists.” NGN’s follow-up statement also said the settlement “draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation.”

Had Harry’s case gone to trial for several weeks, many, including Grant, believed NGN would have had to defend itself against broader allegations of a privacy cover-up. Grant today noted that “the people giving the orders (back then) are still there (at NGN) in positions of great power.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the BBC of the investigation: “We are awaiting any correspondence from the parties concerned, which we will respond to in due course.”

Earlier, Met chief Mark Rowley highlighted Today that the problems have been studied in the past. “There was a massive series of investigations done about a decade ago,” he said. “It ended more recently than that, many, many millions of pounds, hundreds of officers were involved over a long period of time. There have been numerous lawsuits, these investigations have been closed, if they send us a bunch of material, we will think about that and we will make our judgments. Much of the material in the civil litigation actually came from these investigations and was requested through legal processes by the litigants. So let’s see if they produce anything.

Leveson 2

Grant also called on the new Labor government to hold a “Leveson 2” inquiry into hacking and privacy, but culture secretary Lisa Nandy has already said this will not take place.

“I have some sympathy for politicians who are terrified of the Murdoch organization and the power to destroy their careers,” said Grant, who is a BAFTA nominee this year for Heretic.

“But that’s why we need leadership from the Prime Minister now. If a government is there for anything, particularly a Labor government, it is to protect the public from the abuses and criminalities of big corporations. »