3.36pm: Whittingdale is going into the background to his committee's inquiry. John Whittingdale speaking in the Commons debate. Photograph: BBC Parliament He says Les Hinton, the News International executive chairmann told his committee, after the conviction of Glenn Mulcaire for phone hacking, that there was no evidence that phone hacking went any wider at the News of the World. But Whittingdale says his committee had suspicions that it had gone further.Then, in 2009, the Guardian published a story about the News of the World's payment to Gordon Taylor to settle a phone hacking claim. The Guardian also produced evidence including the "For Neville" email. This seemed to show that hacking did go further than Mulcaire.The committee took evidence from several News International executives.Tom Crone, the ... Continue reading →

Further education colleges have been awarded over half the extra student places allotted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. How have the places been shared out, and between which institutions? Continue reading →

11.08am: While he was in government, conversations on policy always led to a conversation about how it would play out in the Sun, Watson tells Leveson. He once mistakenly referred to a Falklands conflict "celebration" rather than "commemoration", which was welcomed by the patriotic Sun but frayed nerves in the foreign affairs community.Leveson asks if this concern applied to the Sun or other titles such as the Daily Mail. Watson replies: I can only speak for myself, but there was a sense there was a mystique about News International stable. There was a sense they had a unique access to No 10 Downing St.They [News International] were the ones that had the connections and everyone was aware of it.Watson was told by Downing Street insiders ... Continue reading →